All Souls Night
by Dulce Ambrosia
Summary: *NEW CHAPTER* Intrigue and romance dog a weary princess and a jaded prince in this AU. In the midst of suspicion and uncertainty can this prince-in-disguise keep her from choosing duty before desire? Review!!!
1. Default Chapter

The idea for this story came to me while I was listening to some music by Loreena McKennit. I really love her stuff, and the lyrics in the story come from her song "All Souls Night." I just want to say that as great as it would be to own Sailor Moon and all of the cool characters, it just ain't happening.   
Enjoy and please, please Review!  
  
  
  
  
All Souls Night  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Bonfires dot the rolling hillsides  
Figures dance around and around  
To drums that pulse out echoes of darkness  
Moving to the pagan sound  
  
"Oh look!" cried the young blond woman as her gaze caught the shards of light on the distant hills. She rushed toward an open window of the enormous castle at the edge of the valley, and leaned forward, intent on getting a closer look. Beyond the opening, lush green landscape spread for miles and miles. The twilight hour cast a witchy green glow to the numerous hills, and a cacophony of colored lights illuminated several rivers that cut through the mounds.   
"What's going on Minako?" she asked breathlessly, her voice hushed in reverance as she stared at the beauty before her.  
  
Lady Minako grinned at the childish glee visible on her friend's face, a look she had not seen for quite awhile.   
  
"I had forgotten, you weren't here with us this time last year. Your mother had wanted you to return to the Moon early for some noble's wedding reception or something."  
  
"My mother..." A look of sorrow briefly crossed Serenity's face. She thought back to that fateful day, when her happy life's bubble burst. Her mother had been ill for several weeks, but Serenity hadn't realized it was anything serious until ...one she was roughly jerked awake by one of the Council Ministers and hurried to the Throne Room for a quick Transfer-of-Power ceremony. Disoriented and afraid, the young quivering girl hesitantly read from the book thrust in front of her face and in a matter of minutes the bubbling Princess became temporary Queen of the Moon Kingdom.   
  
Days turned into weeks, and soon it became apparent how the weight of power had taken its toll on the young woman. She rarely smiled anymore and she was constantly overwhelmed by the addition of a new responsibility. She would have withered away inside rather than admit to the world that it was too much to handle, but her close friends had sensed her silent pain and had taken matters into their own hands.  
  
A few days ago, the girls cornered their Princess as soon as she left a policy meeting.   
"Sere, you need a break. This temporary transfer of power was too much for you! If you keep working at this rate, you'll wither away into nothingness!" The girls had cried. After intense persuasion by Ami and serious threats of physical removal by Makoto, Serenity had agreed to a brief vacation to Earth to visit Minako's second cousin.  
  
"It all looks so different from the Moon. This planet is full of mystery and magic," Princess Serenity murmured softly as she gazed out the window to the rolling hills in the distance. The sunset cast a golden glow on Serenity's face, and her usually bright blue eyes looked a deep turquoise.   
  
If she listened hard enough she could almost hear the inner pulse of the planet. An almost eerie glow encompassed the large groups of villagers beginning the long walk to the hills where people had already started constructing enormous bonfires.  
  
"My cousin told me tonight is 'All Souls Night'. In this part of Earth they have a tradition celebrating the souls of the dead by sending candle-lit lanterns on waterways heading toward the ocean and lighting bonfires on the hills."   
Minako tilted her head at a sudden thought. Lips twitching she laughed, "Rei would love this, the little pyro!"  
  
"What would I love?" Lady Rei walked over to the two blondes hovering near the window, her eyebrow arched and her eyes narrowing suspiciously. "What have you two been up to? You've been standing there for almost half an hour!"   
  
"Rei, look outside!" Serenity directed, "Have you ever see so many colorful lights?" As the Princess eagerly turned to pull Rei closer, she tugged hard on her arm. Unfortunately, she tugged too hard and a portion of the dark-haired girl's filmy sleeve tore. Rei looked down at the large rip in her favorite silk dress and then glared at Serenity murderously.  
  
"Now you've done it Odango! This was one of my favorite dresses! Why do you have to be so childish? Haven't you ever seen the All Soul's Night celebrations before?" Rei looked at Serenity irritably, but at the sudden sadness in her Princess's face, Rei felt immediate remorse. This was the first time Serenity had been truly enthusiastic about anything since the illness.  
  
Weeks ago, Serenity would have cried buckets at the slightest raise in tone of voice from her fiery friend, but now, her face simply tightened.   
  
"I'm sorry Sere, I..." Serenity cut Rei off with an abrupt hand motion.  
"You have nothing to apologize for. I am sorry I ripped your dress," Serenity whispered coolly and turned back toward the window. Although Serenity's voice was respectful, it was surprisingly... emotionless. Distant. As if a barrier had been raised between her old self and her new self, and her old self was not allowed to come out anymore.   
  
Rei sent Minako a stricken look and opened her mouth to say more when a young woman with short blue hair and a young woman with long brown hair entered the hall.   
  
"There are so many people outside!" exclaimed Lady Makoto as she and Lady Ami walked over to the group. Ami glanced at Serenity's impassive face and gave Rei and Minako a questioning look. Rei shrugged helplessly and glanced at Minako, who looked at Serenity worriedly.   
  
Ami tried to lighten the mood and tapped Serenity's shoulder, gushing cheerfully, "Minako's cousin is inviting all sorts of distinguished guests to the feast tonight." Makoto gave Ami an approving nod, but Serenity just smiled hesitantly and remained silent.   
Inside however, she was torn by thoughts of uncertainty and unhappiness.   
  
'Goddess, I can't be brave tonight, pretending that everything is all right to a bunch of strangers who don't really care anyway' she thought, 'I'm sorry Mother, but I can't, not tonight. For once I just want to be real, without hiding behind this frigid noble mask that stifles me in tradition and duty...'  
  
Minako stared worriedly at her silent friend and sighed. Lately Serenity had become more and more distant, holding her feelings inside instead of throwing tantrums and having her usual crying fits. All the girls noticed Serenity's smiles growing more and more strained each day. She stayed awake until dawn poring over petitions and treaties, and dark smudges were appearing under her eyes from lack of sleep. Minako sensed that one day the glass exterior holding her best friend together would shatter and the beauty and love housed deep within Serenity would be scattered across space and time, lost forever. That thought startled the Princess of Venus, and she silently prayed that her premonition would never come to pass. Serenity looked up at Minako and pasted a smile onto her face; a smile that did not quite reach her darkly lit eyes.  
  
"Don't worry about me so much, Mina, I'm fine," Serenity lied calmly. She gave Mina another weak smile and turned to Makoto, saying "Would you all be terribly upset if I cried off on tonight's banquet? I was hoping to catch up on some rest and this is supposed to be a vacation, isn't it?"   
  
Ami, Minako, Makoto, and Rei looked at each other, and Rei opened her mouth to argue but then Ami stepped forward to hug her Princess. After a few seconds the others joined in, and for a little while things were back to the way they used to be with the inseparable five-some. A feeling of warmth and camaraderie fell over the group, a feeling they had not truly felt since Serenity had taken over the Queen's duties. However, with a shout from outside reality intruded and the girls parted reluctantly.   
  
Serenity smiled gratefully at her best friends and the girls linked arms to walk down the hallway They split off amidst lots of laughter and smiles toward their perspective rooms to begin preparing for the evening's festivities.   
  
Minako walked with Serenity to her room and as she opened the door, she cried excitedly, "I have the best idea! Why don't you go to the villager's local celebration? You could wear some common clothes and blend in. No one to tell you what to do or what to say..." Minako broke off suddenly, afraid that Serenity would laugh at her childishness. Serenity thought for a moment and nodded her head approvingly.   
"That is a wonderful idea Mina! I think I just want to get away from Court life for a little while, you know, not be the center of attention for once." As Minako left she promised to send a maid by with an outfit that would easily blend in with the crowds of villagers walking to the hills.   
  
Serenity stared thoughtfully at her reflection in the mirror and gave a small smile as she remembered the hug they had all shared in the shadows of the hall.  
  
'I have not felt this way in a long time,' she thought sadly, 'Taking over Mama's duties has been so hard and I have hardly any time for my friends or fun...' Serenity turned away guiltily and twirled her long blond hair with her finger.   
  
"I shouldn't feel this way, it's not Mama's fault she got so sick. As the Princess I have a duty and with that comes certain obligations," Serenity recited to her reflection. But she knew, deep down she knew something was missing. Even before her mother's illness, sometimes when she was around her best friends she would be overcome by acute pangs of emptiness and loneliness. As if she wasn't exactly whole, as if part of her soul was waiting to be filled. And the extra strain of taking over her mother's duties had just accentuated her internal solitude.   
  
'Sometimes,' she thought sadly, 'Sometimes I just wish I were a normal girl who didn't have to worry about trade relations with Mars, or civil war on one of Jupiter's moons. But I just have to ... accept this. It will get better, over time...' Serenity didn't feel as reassured as she would have liked. And her reflection did not offer any comfort or words of wisdom.  
  
She had never told the girls her disquiets because she didn't want to seem weak compared to them, but certain nights she wondered, what if...   
  
Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden break in the silence- the rhythmic beating of drums had snaked its way from the hills and into the Princess's room, penetrating every corner with its potent pulse. Serenity walked to her window and peered at the bonfires and festivities in the distance.  
  
'One night, just one night to leave the charade and be myself,' she thought, 'and then I'll return to being temporary Queen of the Moon Kingdom.'   
"Duty be damned, for one night anyway," Serenity spoke fiercely to her reflection. She yanked off her dress and awaited the arrival of Minako's maid, who would bring the clothes that were her ticket to a night of anonymity and freedom. 


	2. Chapter 2: Haunting Feelings

Here it is folks, Chapter 2 (Yay!!!) Once again, the characters in this story don't belong to me (*sniffle*) but the ideas sure do, so please don't borrow without asking, 'kay?  
Thanks to the lovely beautiful people who reviewed. I LOOOVE feedback, so please keep reviewing!  
  
  
Chapter 2  
  
As the vestiges of sunset sent one last burst of burnt orange across the land, two tall men in gray uniforms entered the Grand Palace courtyard, a look of disbelief on the face of one and amusement on the face of the other.   
  
"I have looked all over the place, but there is no sign of our ghost Prince," Nephrite commented, his voice rich with amusement. His blond companion simply rolled his eyes and mumbled something about derelict princes and hungry Guardians.   
  
"I swear, Endy disappears faster than Cook's famous pies!" Jadeite exclaimed. "How can he anticipate when we are coming? I thought I was being sneaky this time."   
His brown-haired companion laughed heartily.  
  
"If I hadn't been raised with him practically from birth I would never know he was the Crown Prince. He dresses like a peasant and is physically in the Throne Room about once every two weeks!" Jadeite exclaimed indignantly. He secretly did not care what his best friend did with himself, but the blond Guardian was getting tired of missing supper to hunt down his wayward charge.  
'He is getting way too old for this!' Jadeite thought tiredly.   
"You know I love cavorting in peasants clothes just as much as Endy does, but why do we always get stuck looking for him? And today of all days, when there are so many gorgeous women around?"   
  
Nephrite silently agreed. The All Souls Night festivities in the royal province always brought people from miles away, and there were many pretty girls helping their families take wood and food to the festival sites.  
  
As the two generals started walking back toward the training area, another man ran up to join them. His long blond hair was tied back in a simple queue and he leaned over to regain his breath.  
"I (breath) found (breath) him (long sigh)" Zoicite gasped before falling in a heap on the ground. Nephrite looked at Jadeite in surprise.  
  
"So quickly," Jadeite responded, "The Prince must be slipping." Nephrite smiled and Zoicite managed a wheezing groan.   
  
"Where was he?" Nephrite asked Zoicite. Zoicite stood up and gave a lopsided grin.   
  
"He was at the northwest gate, helping some family with their wagon. I almost didn't see him because he was leaning over. I barely managed to catch him before he squeezed past the guards and lost himself in the crowds."  
  
"Goddess, he does this every year, and every year the Queen has a royal fit because Endy manages to sneak away right when he should be 'discharging his royal duty.'" Nephrite moaned jokingly. Prince Endymion hated entertaining visiting dignitaries and loved teasing his mother, even at the expense of making a laughingstock out of half the court.  
  
"So what's his disguise this time?" Jadeite asked curiously. Zoiciste answered that their friend was carrying a harp when he last saw him.  
  
"A minstrel then? He always does like to show off!" Jadeite snorted.  
  
"You would to if your voice was half as good as Endy's! He can't help it if all the ladies swoon as soon as he opens his mouth. Besides, your one to talk," Zoicite retorted amusedly. Jadeite was famous for his outrageous and usually successful attempts at gaining women's affections. He was infamous for his unsuccessful attempts at avoiding said women's husbands.   
  
Jadeites shot Zoicite a quelling look and loudly suggested they all slip into one of the kitchens and get something to eat. Twilight cast a cerulean shadow on the three men as they prepared to fill their bellies and enjoy the upcoming royal banquet. Strolling through the crowds of people leaving for the hills, the Guardians could sense the excitement in the pale red and orange auras surrounding the masses.  
  
"Zoicite, where is Endymion now?" Nephrite said suddenly. Jadeite waited expectantly was a smug smile came to Zoicite's lips.  
  
Zoicite tried to look pitying, but his lips kept twitching.  
"I left him with Kunzite," he said sorrowfully.  
  
"Goddess help him!" Jadeite, Nephrite, and Zoicite all burst in laughter, a loud jolly sound that floated through the courtyard, over the heads of the throngs of people, and to the ears of poor Prince Endymion.  
  
Kunzite, his long white hair flapping in the breeze gazed at his prince sternly, albeit sympathetically. Light from recently lit lanterns caught his silver eyes and made them glint like shards of smoky glass.   
  
"You should have waited until after banquet to sneak away Endy. The bonfires aren't going anywhere."  
  
Endymion sighed and ran his hand through his long dark hair agitatedly.  
"I just can't stand staying another minute in this castle!" Endymion snorted disgustedly. "Everyone hangs onto my every word and all the courtesans follow me like moon-sick calves whenever I go the fields to train." He sighed frustratingly and started to pace, the scuffing sounds of his boats echoing in the suddenly silent courtyard.   
"Everyone rushes to obey my every command at the expense of getting behind in their own work. You, Nephrite, Jadeite, and Zoicite are the only people who I can sneeze with, let alone be myself with." Endymion paused and glanced at his friend.  
  
Kunzite heard a thought trickle out of his Prince's mind before Enymion's mind shields slammed shut again.  
It's not enough anymore. Maybe it never was...   
  
Kunzite gazed silently at his young friend, his mind focused on the clashing auras radiating around the Prince. Reds and blacks whirled and clashed in a reflection of Endymion's conflicting mood. But in the midst of the storm of emotions and colors, Kunzite caught a thread of silver. A hint of confusion, a sense of intrigue, and maybe a little bit of fear.   
  
"Endymion, what is the matter?" Kunzite asked quietly. His Prince had been acting strange lately, but they had all assumed it was in response to the increased number of people at court.  
  
"I... I am not sure," Endymion answered slowly. Kunzite had never seen his Prince so hesitant before. During training, while interacting with his subjects, in all aspects Endymion always acted decisively and unfalteringly. But this...  
  
"Two nights ago, I started having strange dreams. When I visited the Sacred Stones, I sensed the disturbance within me was affecting energy channels within Earth. I am afraid if I don't resolve this, I might disrupt a natural balance." Just then, the loud laughs and noises from the distant celebrations filtered by and pierced the strange still silence. Endymion turned toward the hills and then looked back toward the castle.  
  
"There is something about tonight, something special. The Earth has been humming with expectation all day, and the amount of magic floating around is enough to choke an advanced mage," Kunzite responded, trying to be helpful. This was all very odd.  
  
A curious expression crossed Endymion's face, and he tensed slightly as his mind stretched forth, sensing something...  
"So close," he murmured, "I almost had it."  
  
"Endymion, we should head back to the castle and start preparing for the banquet. Your mother expressly insisted that you make an appearance and start taking your position as Crown Prince seriously." Kunzite cut into Endymion's musings. Endymion turned sharply and frowned at his Guardian.  
  
Then, with an enigmatic smile hovering around his lips, Endymion turned toward the hills. He leaned over, grabbed his harp, and strapped it firmly to his back.  
"I am not going, as you very well know," he said quietly, " I care about my people, but Mother wants to keep me in a gilded cage like I am some fragile egg. I may be the Crown Prince, but I am first and foremost a man." He paused and let a deep breath out, slowly.  
"And whatever is out there haunting my dreams and disturbing my thoughts, I know, deep down I know I will find it. Only tonight."  
  
With the lanterns casting a pale shadow over his face, Endymion stared into Kunzite's silver eyes and held up one callused hand.  
"My friend, I hope that you will go back to my mother and report that you could not find me. I hesitate to force my status on you of all people, but God help me Kunzite if you don't let me go I will order you to leave me."   
  
Kunzite quickly glanced at the prince, his eyes shooting angry silver sparks at the hard tone of his liege. At the unwavering yet strangely pleading look on the prince's face Kunzite grudgingly conceded.   
"My Prince, I live to serve you. If you must defy the Queen again and leave the palace ..." Kunzite trailed off and looked at the moon, sitting white and swollen in the sky. His somber face broke out into a rare smile. "Try to be more clever about it next time," he finished lamely.  
  
Endymion gave Kunzite a grateful smile and, with a small wave, began walking out of the courtyard and down the path leading to the peasant festivals. Before him, the hills glowed like fire; the light from the bonfires shooting mystical and spiritual sparks at the heavens. The sky was already a deep dark blue, the color of tempestuous seas.   
"By the Goddess, I will find out tonight what has been tormenting me these last few days. What do my dreams mean?" Endymion mused to himself. He noticed a small group of villagers leaving through the last set of palace gates and he walked quickly to join them.   
His dark ebony hair glowing dark silver in the moonlight, the Crown Prince of Earth walked with peasants to the All Souls Night festival, a harp strapped to his back and his thoughts a whirlwind.  
  
"Tonight." He whispered, almost reverently. 


	3. Chapter 3: A Chance Meeting

Hi minna! Sorry for the lateness in this latest installment, but with final exams and papers my life has not been my own! Anyway, it's great to be back, and thank you soooo much to the lovely people who have reviewed my pet project! Your comments mean so much to me. Thanks especially to the NCS and college crowd (y'all know who you are!)   
  
Once again, the characters of Sailor Moon belong to the lovely Naoko Takeuchi, not me, 'kay? The lyrics at the beginning are from the song All Souls Night by Loreena McKennit. Check it out sometime, she's really awesome (:  
  
  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Somewhere in a hidden memory  
Images float before my eyes  
Of fragrant nights of straw and of bonfires  
And dancing till the next sunrise  
  
  
Serenity belted the ends of the long brown skirt around her waist and turned hesitantly to face the guestroom's full-length mirror. Her cornflower blue eyes widened in amazement as she stared at her reflection, the reflection of a stranger.  
  
  
Gone were her trademark odangoes identifying her as a member of the royal family of the Moon. Her long silver-blonde hair hung in a simple braid down her back, tied at the end with a white ribbon borrowed from Minako (who had enough ribbons for fifty girls.) A cream-colored tunic covered pale arms and shoulders. Small-embroidered flowers traced the modestly low neckline lovingly and ribbons hung from the edges of the three quarter length sleeves. The soft brown skirt soothingly caressed her legs, and her feet were encased in supple leather boots. A small knife with a silver hilt peeked out of the top of her left boot, a token reminder of Makoto's self-defense training exercises.  
  
"Who are you?" Serenity whispered softly at the girl in her reflection. That girl was not a princess of the Moon. That girl did not have a deathly ill mother. That girl did not have to carry the weight of the entire kingdom on her young thin shoulders.   
Serenity took in a deep breath and walked to her bureau. She carefully placed the chain holding Gingzhiouso under her tunic so the large crystal hung low, hidden in the valley between her breasts. With a flash of silver from her fingertips the gold crescent moon on her forehead faded into oblivion.  
  
"No one must guess who you are," Serenity muttered as she grabbed a long cloak from the pile of clothes Minako's maid had brought, "or there will be diplomatic hell to pay."   
Servants noted how a young blonde woman, obviously of no importance judging from her simple dress and hesitant manner, walked past them in the servants' hallways; however as they had lords and ladies to attend to, they promptly forgot all about her. Serenity slipped outside into the main courtyard and looked around in confusion at the noisy bustling crowds. Walking carefully around joking guards and craft vendors shouting their wares, she soon noticed a group of merrymakers carrying wood and lanterns for the All Souls Night festivities and hastened to join them as they left through a gate.   
  
Others soon joined the revelers as the followed a worn hill path and Serenity looked around in wonder at the large numbers of people. Some, like herself, were garbed in festival attire complete with bells and ribbons. Others were dressed more somberly and carried paper lanterns to burn in memory of their dead. All were caught up in the heady mood of celebration, celebration of life and love. Eerily glowing lanterns on either side of the path served as a guide and Serenity soon heard the loud sounds of music and people. The incessant drumbeat quickly turned from a dull murmur to a full roar.  
  
"Oh my Goddess!" Serenity halted mid-stride and stared at the distant figures of people dancing in the wavering darkness around enormous bonfires. Music filled the air, all instruments coming together in a primitive joyful beat. Groups of children clumped around storytellers, and men engaged in archery and ground combat contests. People gathered on the banks of a nearby river full of paper boats holding little candles.   
  
Serenity's eyes glowed obsidian with the light from the bonfires, and she decided to venture toward a particularly large bonfire, drawn by the young men and women circling the seductive flames. So focused was she on her the fire that she failed to notice the tall shadow in front of her until it was too late.  
  
"Oomph!" Serenity cried as she plowed into a very hard, very solid, very male form. One minute she was walking and the next she was on the ground, her skirt tangled around her legs and her tunic twisted and baring one shoulder. She opened her eyes slowly and rolled over into a sitting position.  
  
She noticed her skirt was bunched up around her thighs and her tunic was crooked. Serenity groaned softly and felt her face flush a dull red. She braced her hands on the ground to stand and suddenly found herself gently lifted and carefully set on her feet again. The arms that held her were strong and Serenity felt a small tingle at the base of her spine. Strange.  
  
"I hope you are alright," a pleasingly husky voice asked. The shadows were dark and Serenity could not make out the stranger's face or his expression. When he turned his head however she caught a glimpse of turbulent blue eyes, with scattered flecks of silver from the moonlight. Serenity gasped quietly as shiver raced through her body.  
'What is going on?' she thought alarmed. When she realized the shadowed man had asked her a question and was waiting for an answer, she blushed and started fidgeting with her skirt.  
  
"I am fine, thank you," she answered shakily, and gave her savior a wobbly smile. She carefully took a step back and felt her body immediately scream in protest from the distance between her and the man. Interesting.  
  
"I am so very sorry, I was not paying any attention to where I was walking." She stared at his eyes in fascination- they were deep like whirlpools and just as multifaceted.   
'Whoa there Serenity, you have no business with this stranger's eyes, no matter how beautiful they are,' she chided herself silently. Giving him a strange look 'Turn and walk away, turn and walk away, turn and-'  
  
"Wait! What is your name?" The stranger reached out and caught Serenity' hand as she turned, his voice soft and taut with desperation. The light from the nearby bonfire caught him full in the face, and the fire lit up his eyes to an unearthly yellow color. Serenity gasped again, this time in a kind of pained empathy at the haunted expression on that beautiful face.   
The light lovingly caught and kissed the crevices of his straight nose, his cheekbones, the curve of his lips. His hair was long, dark, and smooth as a raven's wing, tied back from his face with a piece of leather. He looked like a memory from a dream; a dream Serenity no longer had the luxury to experience.   
  
Serenity gaped at him like a landed fish and as his hand gripped her own she felt the earth thrum approvingly beneath her feet.  
'Yes,' it seemed to echo, 'I have been waiting for this since the dawn of time.'  
  
Intense storm-tossed blue eyes caught and held startled sky-kissed blue eyes and Serenity began to tremble slightly. Dangerous. Way too dangerous.  
His eyes, oh his eyes glowed like hellfire and there was nothing else, no bonfires, no music, and no festivals- no, nothing outside those eyes.  
  
'I've got you,' they seemed to say, 'and I am never going to let you go.'  
  
A loud shout from the group of dancers broke the spell and Serenity found herself once again standing near a bonfire. The handsome, lonely- 'Lonely Serenity? Where did that thought come from?' - man still held her hand, a concerned and slightly amused look on his face.   
"I didn't mean to startle you," the man began and Serenity had the strongest urge to smack the smugness out of his voice.   
  
"Yes, well you can't just grab a girl's hand and not expect her to jump a bit," Serenity bit out more forcefully than she intended, but Goddess his touch was distracting.   
  
'No Sere, don't even go there!' Serenity sharply reminded herself. Her whole body felt unnaturally flushed and she still trembled from the stranger's nearness.  
'Get a grip missy! You are not some young impressionable schoolgirl who falls for every handsome man who crosses her path! Love does not fit in your schedule at the moment,' Serenity thought gloomily.   
  
The man just grinned sheepishly, but used her hand to draw her closer to his body. Serenity tried to pull back but soon found herself a hair's breath away from his face. And his mouth. Oh Goddess!  
  
"I am sorry, but I couldn't just let you leave like that. There is something about you..." His dark eyes looked at her quizzically, as if she were an insurmountable riddle he was dying to solve.   
  
Serenity tried to pull away again, but if anything the stranger just brought her closer as he wrapped an arm around her waist.   
  
'How in the Goddess is this possible!' Serenity thought shakily, her heart pounding and her thoughts scattered by her impossible closeness to that, that... 'Sere leave now before you do something that you are going to regret! You have a duty to your mother and people and you can't just-'  
  
"Eep!" Serenity gave a sharp intake of breath as the stranger leaned in and-  
  
"Let's try this again, shall we? My name is Endymi- umm, Mamoru." Serenity frowned briefly at his obvious lie.  
  
'If his real name is Mamoru, I'm the Princess of Mars. Sorry Rei.' Serenity's musings were cut short as she felt "Mamoru's" breath feather lightly her lips and cheeks.   
  
"What's yours?" He asked. She inhaled his words and felt her insides dissolve.  
  
'Keep calm Sere, stay tough, don't weaken, don't, wait, SERENITY!'  
It was too late. The war within had begun- on one side was her duty, her position, her obligations; on the other side was her heart, her unfulfilled dreams, her sacrificed desires.   
  
"I, ummm, I..." Serenity wanted to weep with sorrow and shout with joy. She had not planned to fall in love with a stranger, from Earth no less! 'Oh Mother, I am so sorry!'  
  
Love! Who said anything about love? But Serenity could not deny the insidious feeling that left her strangely vulnerable and powerful at the same time. This man had come out of nowhere and completely turned her life upside-down. He could be her salvation. He would destroy her.   
  
'I love him? I... I love him,' Serenity thought wonderingly. Bliss was quickly followed by desolation.  
'After tonight I can never see him again.' 


	4. Chapter 4: Too Close For Comfort

Hi minna! Thanks to all of you beautiful people who reviewed (especially you NCS peeps). Your reviews are what encourage me to keep writing, so keep the feedback coming! Grande apologies for getting this out so late. After final exams I spent some time recovering from the shock. Mainly through sleep, sleep, and more sleep. I welcome all comments, suggestions, etc. so don't hesitate to drop me a line. Enjoy!  
  
Dulce Ambrosia  
Mucho_dulce@hotmail.com  
  
  
Disclaimer: Yeah, I'll own Sailor Moon when palm trees grow in Anarctica. Ain't gonna happen.  
  
  
  
  
All Souls Night  
Chapter 4  
  
I can see lights in the distance  
Trembling in the dark cloak of night  
Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing  
A waltz on All Souls Night  
  
  
He felt as hot as blue fire. He felt as cold as red ice. The girl in his arms was wreaking havoc on his senses. Before he could explore the sensations he caught her stare and a delicately scalding blush followed the widening of bright blue eyes of the girl trembling deliciously in his arms.  
  
His lips quirked and he laughed inwardly at her attempts to gasp out a name. She was so adorable, with her soft lips and innocent gaze.   
  
Endymion may have been holding her only a few seconds but it was as if his arms had been made to hold her, since the dawn of time. Part of him felt like it would die if he didn't kiss her, right there in the middle of everyone, and he was surprised and a little annoyed at his strong reaction to this girl. It wasn't like he had never embraced a beautiful woman before. But still, there was something about her . . . Goddess he had to kiss her now!   
  
The Prince gently placed his finger to the girl's mouth and stopped her stammering, drawing a sudden gasp from her lips. He could smell the faint scent of violets on her skin and thought violets had never smelled so delicious.  
  
He closed his eyes and leaned in, tasting warm, soft . . .air? With a quick shove back the warm body encased in his arms abruptly disappeared and Endymion opened in eyes to see a peculiar expression upon the girl's face before she turned and ran away into a crowd of dancers, her hair streaks of silver swirling in the darkness.   
  
He sensed the oranges and yellows of her stormy emotional wake, rife with indecision, confusion, and anticipation. Amongst the colors filtering through his mind entered whisper of a thought - I'm sorry, I just can't . . .  
  
Can't what? The Crown Prince of Earth stood rooted; his mouth gaped open in astonishment as he gazed in the direction of the first woman who had ever run away from him.   
  
Endymion closed his mouth and walked stiffly, unseeing, toward the first booth in his path. After buying a hot sweet roll filled with ground beef he sat on a flattened log and puzzled over the last few minutes. Minutes that he felt may have thoroughly changed his life.  
  
Note: came across beautiful blond girl and flirted  
Note: held girl in arms and tried to kiss her  
Note: girl stares as if I have two heads and runs away  
  
Endymion agonized silently as he inhaled the sweet seasonings of his snack. Girls liked him. A lot. Hell, maybe he was being kind of cocky, but it was the truth. He couldn't help it if women melted like warm butter when he smiled. Or when he sang.   
  
Goddess, he was irresistible, but it wasn't always beds or roses and champagne romance. The false ones had left a slightly cynical mark on his knightly romantic notions. It had taken him years to be able to detect the users and discard the abusers.   
  
After a particularly bad episode in which a woman had played upon his innocence and betrayed his trust, he had vowed to preserve innocence rather than pursue it.   
  
He pulled the harp from his back and began to strum a few chords, to the amusement of the nearby couples. What was he doing now if not pursuing an innocent? Since when did Endymion, Crown Prince of Earth start breaking his own rules about women?   
  
Jadeite would laugh if he were here. Endymion could just hear the annoying strawberry-headed Guardian crowing already. The mighty prince bowled over for some petite village girl. Who had then run away in fright. Girls ran to him, not away from him. And why did it matter so much? She was just a pretty girl and he'd seen plenty of those before. Yeah, just another pretty girl.  
  
Endymion forced himself to try and forget about the girl (definitely impossible), forget about his dreams (undeniably improbable), and to enjoy himself for one night.   
  
Retying the harp to his back, Endymion walked toward a nearby group of revelers around a particularly large bonfire. The flames flickered lazily on the flushed faces of the dancers as he approached. At a break in the music, Endymion noticed a young woman with light brown hair and laughing brown eyes looking at him and smiling flirtatiously from the circle of her friends. He smiled back and the next thing he knew he was twirling into the middle of the dance.   
  
When the dance ended, Endymion approached another woman, and then anther, and soon had a trail of broken hearts leading from one dancing group to the next. He twirled and tapped from bonfire to bonfire and succeeded in only thinking about the girl with blue eyes every five minutes instead of every second.   
  
Pounding drums echoed the vibrant pulsing from deep within the earth itself and the Prince of Earth felt a fierce joy in the power of the land, his land. Drops of sweat dripped down his face and his hair was pulling free from the leather piece, long black strands spilling over his shoulders.   
  
"Enough," he cried laughingly after yet another energetic dance. His lovely partner pouted prettily but moved on to find another partner. Endymion wiped his face with water from a bucket and looked around. Still no sign of a slight figure with blonde hair turned silver by the moonlight.   
  
For some reason, Endymion had the uneasy feeling that if he did find the girl again he would never be able to let her go.   
  
Pulled into another round of dancing, Endymion found his thoughts straying from the golden-haired beauty in his arms to the young woman from earlier . . . Goddess, why couldn't he stop thinking about her! If he was being honest with himself, he'd been looking for her in the face of every girl he had danced with. She had disappeared as suddenly as a hunted fairy and Endymion tried to fight the rising desperation within him. She was haunting him.   
  
Haunting? The word made him think of the silver silhouette his disquieting dreams. Could the girl have something to do with -?  
No, there was no way. But still . . . Endymion closed his eyes briefly and searched his inner connection to his planet. There it was, something important, almost had it . . .But all he saw was the girl's face, shadowed by moonlight.  
  
'I need a distraction,' Endymion thought crazily. He gave his current dancing partner a swoon-causing smile and eased carefully through the dancers until he reached the outskirts of the group.   
  
All around him were people laughing and dancing, singing and crying. As Endymion leaned against a tree and watched the archery tournament, he began to feel uneasy. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled and his warrior sense flared bright red hues in his mind. He sent a quick mental scan of the area and felt . . .Danger!!!  
  
The Crown Prince of Earth heard the slight hissing sound a split second before he fell and rolled to the ground. In the spot where he had been standing less than a moment before was a short arrow, embedded menacingly into the tree.   
  
Endymion panted slightly and gave a silent prayer of thanks to Kunzite for putting him through all those grueling exercises to hone his mental and physical reflexes.  
  
Sending another mental feeler out, he caught a wisp of, disappointment? Someone had wanted to hit him? Or kill him? The idea that it had been a stray arrow from the tournament immediately fled Endymion's mind as he realized as assassination attempt had just failed. But who, why?   
  
Endymion thought back to the reports he had been receiving of rebellion in the Southern Hemisphere. People who were afraid of magic and disproved of trade relations with the Moon Kingdom. He had championed the relationship against the advice of his advisory council and his mother, and he knew he had made some enemies. But he was here in disguise, so whoever it was had seen him before, maybe even met him before.  
  
The Prince sat up and thought hard for a few minutes. When he was satisfied with his conclusions, he sent a brief telepathic message to his Guardians.  
  
'Kunzite, Nephrite, Zoicite, Jadeite- Listen carefully because what I am about to tell you involves not only a threat to global security but to our very lives. Someone just tried to kill me and -  
  
'What!!!???' Came the stunned reply. 'I knew we should have been with you,' growled Kunzite, his mental voice projecting white anger.  
  
'It's too late to think about that know,' Endymion continued, 'whoever is here knows who I am, and I suspect treachery from within the royal ranks. Someone wants me dead, probably to clear the way to abolishing the Moon-Earth trade agreement. I need you all to search as stealthily and carefully as you can for clues to the traitor's existence, starting in the palace.'  
  
'Yes Sir!' and 'Please be careful, Endymion' swirled through the Prince's mind before he severed the telepathic links and raised his mind shield again.   
  
He suddenly felt a presence behind him and jumped to his feet quickly, his arms poised and ready to strike back at the attacker.   
  
A burly man with a thick red beard and bushy brown eyebrows looked at him curiously and cleared his throat nervously. Endymion relaxed his shoulders sheepishly.   
  
"What can I do for you friend?" Endymion asked, somewhat surprised and a little impatient. He had hoped to start looking for his assassin immediately. But obviously this man had searched him out explicitly.   
  
The older man glanced at the harp on the ground next to Endymion's feet and then looked at Endymion.   
  
"I see you have a harp lad, and we have need of a harpist. Do you play songs of sorrow as well as songs of gladness? We are simple folk and seek a simple, respectful song."  
  
When Endymion nodded in the affirmative, the red-haired man indicated that the Prince follow him toward a small group sitting quietly on the banks of the river, slightly away from the noises and the dancing.   
  
In the absence of bonfires the people's faces were starkly grazed by moon and starlight. Endymion immediately sensed the more somber mood of the people and noticed that some of the children held small paper boats with candles; the colorful ships were ready to sail down the river to light the path to the Underworld for the dead souls.  
  
"Harpist," the man asked as he motioned toward a stump, "could you play us a song to honor the memory of our dead? Something soft and respectful." The sad but dignified faces turned to peer at the young man dressed in festive, but worn clothes. Endymion felt moved to help his people mourn their loss.   
  
Endymion sat on the wide stump and began to play his harp. He closed his eyes and opened his mouth, and the pure notes poured forth daintily, whisperingly. Gentle as a dove's wing, the song began slowly as Endymion sang verses of a ballad in which the only son of a poor widow is sent to battle. After months of silence, the widow receives word that her pride in life is dead, and she dies soon after of heartache.   
  
He opened his mind and let the music envelop him entirely. Endymion who had commanded hundreds of men in battle let himself feel the blood splashing on his armor. Somehow their mourning had become his, and Endymion allowed himself the brief luxury of remembrance. He let himself hear the pounding of horses' hooves and the roar of battle cries. A locked memory door opened, and into his voice he let pour the anguish of having his younger brother die in his older, responsible arms. Despair at the realization that some of his beloved subjects wanted him dead thrummed through the listeners' hearts.   
  
Endymion was so caught up in his memories that he didn't realize the ballad had ended until he felt a slight touch on his arm. Opening his eyes, his mind was immediately embraced in comforting silver. Tear-filled blue eyes stared into his pain-filled blue eyes, and Endymion felt a connection forged in his heart that he knew could never be broken.  
  
***  
  
Serenity had run, run, run away from her heart until she was safely hidden in the crowds of people. She had walked quickly to the riverbank and plopped down against a tree, her eyes troubled and her head ringing.   
  
'Go back, no stay here, no go back, no stay here. . .' her thoughts warred fiercely and Serenity had fought the urge to scream in frustration.  
  
Her head in her hands, Princess Serenity had sat trying to come up with a possible explanation for the ridiculous feeling of love she had claimed to experience in Mamoru's arms. She had had a momentary lapse in judgment. No, she was delusional. Things like this did not happen to normal people. Love at first sight! Pah, that was for girls out of storybooks and fairy tales, not for real-life princesses who had to attend battle tactic seminars on Jupiter or visit pestilence-stricken farmers on Mercury.   
  
As the gentle lapping of the river soothed her anxiety, Mamoru's face again invaded her thoughts.   
  
'Lust, it had to be lust.' Serenity thought bluntly. Mamoru was by far the most gorgeous man Serenity had ever seen, and she had seen a lot of men. She had merely responded to her overactive hormones identifying Mamoru as a beautiful piece of manflesh. Right? Right?!   
  
'It would never work anyway,' she concluded sadly, 'when I am free to marry, which isn't anytime soon, he has to be from the Moon Kingdom. And approved by the Moon Council.'  
  
What was it Mother had said? Queens marry for loyalty, not for love. She was not being cruel, but realistic. But her parents had fallen in love, deeply in love. Her parents had glowed with happiness and it had been bliss.   
  
Instinctively, Serenity knew she could have that same pleasure with Mamoru, but it was impossible! She could never turn her back on her kingdom, especially not now, now when she needed to prove her ruling capabilities to kingdom!   
  
If she faltered, the Council would take over, holding the temporary ruling power until the Queen recovered. Serenity would have failed! Failed her mother, who had such faith in her daughter to lead for the kingdom's sake. Failed her senshi, who followed her in teasingly blind devotion.   
  
Serenity remembered the laughing faces of her senshi as they executed their training perfectly. They performed their lessons elegantly, while she stumbled and tripped like a landed fish. Goddess, they could fight, sing, dance, and even walk better than she could!   
  
She knew she was clumsy and awkward, but she had always thought she would have time to grow out of it. Or at least learn to hide it gracefully. Fate had taken that option away however, and she would be damned if her birthright was denied her because of her inadequacy.   
  
A few members of the Moon Council had disproved of granting her sovereign power, citing her age and inexperience. But she knew, oh she knew they thought she would bungle it somehow and throw the kingdom into chaos.   
  
In the past few months she had slowly gained the trust of the Council with her shrewd diplomatic maneuvers. Securing and ratifying the trade agreement with Earth had especially been a coup de triumph for her in the Council's eyes, and she could not afford to lose their support now.  
  
No, she could not love where she willed; she could not disappoint anybody, not now.  
  
Oh Goddess . . . Serenity groaned quietly and looked up at the full moon- her home, her prison.  
  
It was as she was wallowing in the luxury of self-pity that she first heard it. A song so full of sorrow that it pierced her like an arrow. Suffering because of the death of a loved one was rich in the notes.   
  
Tears came to Serenity's eyes as she thought of what she would do if her senshi ever died protecting her. Or worse still, what if her mother never got well? What if the doctors were lying. . . Serenity stifled a sob and took a shuddering breath. Who was this singer that had read a page of Serenity's life story and put it to song?   
  
She stood up, dusted her skirt, and followed the sorrowful music down the riverbank to the quiet group sitting nearby. She was not the only person drawn to the haunting melody. Slowly working her way around the growing crowds surrounding the mesmerizing harpist, Serenity squeezed between two women and found herself looking full into the face of her heart.   
  
His eyes were closed and his body was whipped with tension. Serenity's heart thumped painfully as the ballad ended, but his eyes remained closed, as if he were completely oblivious to the world around him. Shadows rimmed his eyes bruisingly. He looked lost, haunted.  
  
Serenity felt herself walk toward him, through no will of her own, and actually lean over to touch him. Stormy, pain-filled eyes pierced through her tear-streaked face and briefly peered into her conflicting thoughts. In his dazed state he could do nothing, but Serenity could not help wondering who this man was, that he could easily scale her guarded mind.   
  
Fate laughed in the background, but the blend of cruelty and compassion in that voice did not prevent Serenity from taking Mamoru's hand and leading him away from the clapping and whistling crowd.   
  
Unbeknownst to the dazed harpist, someone watched their direction furtively, and slipped away to plot a new strategy. This time, he would not fail.  
  
Serenity had eyes only for the man who held her hand so trustingly, so gently in her own. In her heart, she knew the battle was over. Her will had lost, for she loved this man with every fiber of her being. But this was a love that Serenity would wrap tenderly and keep in her soul, never sharing and never baring. Her heart would be forever broken, for she would not see this man again.   
  
Gazing into her beloved's face, Serenity impulsively decided to stay and let her heart soak up as much love as it could. She would sip lightly on its joyous reserves for the rest of her life. Only her senshi knew she was not truly ill, and they had sworn to allow her a night's freedom from the obligations weighing down on her soul.  
  
She watched as Mamoru took a deep shuddering breath and ran his hand through his loosened hair. They had moved toward a group of trees, away from the heart of the festivities, but close enough to hear a group of musicians play a round of slow sappy love songs. Her feet stayed rooted in place, as if the very earth she stood upon refused to let her move.   
  
Mamoru turned and looked at her, the pleasure and surprise evident on his face.   
  
"Please, who are you? And no running away this time." He chided laughingly. He made no move to touch her, but Serenity could easily feel the heat and expectancy pouring from him.   
  
"Usagi," she answered simply, choosing the pet name her mother sometimes had called her. Tit for tat; he had not told her his real name either. How much did he have to hide? How much did she have to conceal?  
  
"It's Destiny you know Usagi. Us, meeting here." Endymion rolled the name around his tongue like a piece of caramel and decided that it suited her nicely, even if it wasn't her real name. He knew that instinctively.   
  
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Serenity replied primly, but at the glaringly comical look on Mamoru's face, her lips quirked and she burst out laughing. Mamoru, looking slightly offended, started laughing as well.  
  
Soon the two were sitting on the mossy ground and talking, talking, talking.  
  
"Tell me about yourself," Mamoru asked Usagi, "I want to know everything about you."  
  
'What possible harm can it be?' Serenity thought, and proceeded to spin a tale of moonbeams and star shadow. She told him about her four best friends in the whole universe. She told him about her mother's life-threatening illness, and the pain of uncertainty. From her lips spilled forth the exhaustion of taking over the "family business."   
  
Minutes turned to hours as Serenity and Endymion sat talking beneath the stars. Endymion talked about his escapades with his four best friends and Serenity countered with a story of playing highwayman, complete with masks and "borrowed" pistols. They were each revealing more and more about themselves while keeping their identities secret. But as the night wore on, it was getting harder and harder to conceal the truth. And did they really want to anymore?  
  
Serenity snuggled into Mamoru's arms as they lay looking up at the sky. The position did not seem awkward or uncomfortable at all. In fact, Serenity had felt as if some natural force was pushing them together, and when Endymion had wrapped his arm around her she had moved toward him, not away.  
****  
  
A cacophony of pinks and oranges trampled across the sky with the oncoming sunrise when the musicians ceased playing and vendors finally began to pack their wares.   
  
Endymion smiled tenderly at the girl sleeping in his arms. He had kept watch after she had fallen asleep, but he hadn't minded. It had been the most beautiful night of his life. Who would have thought the slightly jaded Crown Prince would have fallen head over heels in love with a slight stranger.  
  
No, not stranger. Endymion felt like he had known her his whole life, and maybe even before. And he would know her forever.  
  
"I am never letting you go Usako," Endymion murmured, lovingly kissing Usagi's forehead before easing her out of his arms.   
  
He stood up, stretching and looking amusedly at the hordes of people walking unsteadily on the paths. Obviously, some people had indulged in all the free wine and ale available for the revelers throughout the night.  
  
"Usako, wake up." Endymion leaned down and gently shook the sleeping girl.   
  
The Princess of the Moon Kingdom groaned loudly and rolled over.  
  
"Leave me alone Rei," she muttered, "Pluto's delegates don't arrive until this afternoon."  
  
Endymion started suddenly. Pluto's delegates? Rei? He knew her real name wasn't Usagi, but who was she really? Before he could ponder more, a large round man full in his cups stumbled upon them.  
  
"Oh, beg pardon man," the man blustered surprisingly, "I say how did you . . . Hmmm, I seem to have misplaced the road . . ."  
  
Serenity lazily opened her eyes, but when she saw a large man peering down at her goofily sat up hastily and primed her mouth to scream her head off. That is, until she saw Mamoru, his lips quirking to unsuccessfully hide his amusement. The man stumbled away, and Mamoru held out his hand to help Serenity to her feet.  
  
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." Mamoru whispered seductively. Serenity shivered slightly, but smiled into the face of her beloved. It had been the most magical night of her life. But that was all they would ever have, one night.   
  
The smile dimmed off and her expression became bleak, but and she turned her head away so Mamoru wouldn't see her tears. She wiped her eyes hurriedly, but couldn't prevent the pain and sadness pooling into their blue depths.  
  
'Goddess, how was she going to get away from him?' Serenity thought desperately. Especially when every fiber of her being never wanted to leave his arms?  
  
"Usagi," Mamoru spoke suddenly, urgently, and turned the girl to face him. He tilted her head up with his finger and smiled tenderly. Serenity's heart shattered into a million pieces with that smile.  
  
"Usagi," Mamoru began again, "I have to tell you something important, something about me. My name is not really Mamoru."   
  
Serenity gasped slightly in surprise. She already knew he had been lying about his name, but she hadn't expected him to reveal himself to her, unless . . . did he feel the same way about her that she felt about him? After only one night? But it would only make their parting that much harder . . .   
  
With the frothing hints of sunrise pouring gently on his face, Mamoru, or whatever his name was, raised her hand to his lips and gave her knuckles a tender kiss.  
  
"My name is Endy-" There was no warning, no sound, no cry.   
  
Serenity had felt no hint of darkness, seen no auras of black and red. One second her heart had been about to reveal himself to her and cement the bond between them, and the next . . .  
  
Serenity broke free from her shock and began screaming.  
  
"Mamoru!! Help, someone please!!!!" She sat crumpled on the ground, holding her heart as he lay gasping, a knife embedded gruesomely in his chest.   
  
Some people looked away and kept walking, not wanting to get involved when all they wanted was to get to their beds in one piece. Others however came running over. Serenity was soon surrounded by a group of people, and someone eased Mamoru from her arms.  
  
"Mamoru," Serenity whispered with all the pain in her heart.  
  
Endymion was on fire, it hurt to talk and breathe. Everything was blurry; he was lost in a sea of colors and he could feel his soul trying to slip out and embrace the nothingness.  
  
He heard a moan and knew intrinsically that it came from his love.  
  
'Usako,' he thought despairingly. Who was going to protect her?  
  
With his last mental strengths he weakly called out to his Guardians.  
  
'Please, help the girl, help Usa . . .' Endymion blocked their horrified replies and closed his eyes, perhaps for the last time.  
  
'I love you Usako.' Endymion sent the message through unconsciously as his heart thumped slower and slower and slower.  
  
And then all was deathly darkness. 


	5. Chapter 5: Lost and Found

All right minna, I know it's been awhile and I am sooo sorry (eek). It's been a crazy summer what with finding work and all, but I've figured out how to manage my time *again* Please, please let me know what you think 'cause I LOVE reading reviews. Without you guys there would be no story so thanks ever so much for your support! Standard disclaimer yadda yadda yadda applies (:  
  
  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Figures of cornstalk bend in the shadows  
Held up tall as the flames leap high  
The Green Knight holds the holly bush   
To mark where the old year passes by  
  
"Noooooooo!"   
  
Villagers passing by clucked their tongues sympathetically as they watched the silver-haired girl wail and then collapse to the ground and cradle her wounded lover.   
  
Anguish ripped through Serenity's soul as the only man she would ever love lay dying in her arms. Seeing his lifeblood drain from the wound on his chest made something snap within her and she wracked her mind wildly for a way to make the pain stop. Her pain, his pain, they were so intertwined she couldn't tell the difference.   
  
Forcing herself not to think of the consequences of her actions, a pale-faced Serenity thrust her hand inside her dress and grabbed the crystal on the end of the silver chain. Closing her eyes, she could feel the power start to unfurl within her and channel itself through her body and into the crystal, awakening the gem's own potent power.   
  
With no time for finesse, Serenity encased the surrounding people in a hazy fog of forgetfulness. No doubt they would start to panic if they saw what she was about to do, and she needed total concentration. Not to mention what would happen if word got back to the Moon Council regarding what she was about to do . . .   
  
Wrapped in a haze, blocked from prying and concerned eyes by the crystal's enchanting power, Serenity placed her hands on Mamoru's bloody chest. Silver light eerily engulfed the slim fingers as the healing power of the Moon Princess flowed into Mamoru's body.  
  
The connection between them intensified as Serenity completely let her mind guard down and linked her mind to his weakened one.   
She could feel the automatic resistance, but she squashed the twinge of guilt at taking advantage of his weakened state to search his psyche. He would heal faster if their minds were linked, and if she couldn't help if she saw something about his past, could she?  
  
Flashes of memory flickered around Serenity like a candle in a dark room. She saw a young dark-haired boy playing at warrior with his best friends when they were supposed to be studying Latin. Scenes from battle were soon followed by a whirlwind of colors, perhaps of people dancing. The tinkling of ladies' laughter invaded Serenity's mind along with the outlines of four men, fuzzy at first . . .  
  
And then Serenity felt the strength of the bond that Mamoru had with these four special men. Stronger than blood, they were a part of him just as he was a part of each of them. She saw a grim face with long brown hair supporting Mamoru after a battle. She saw a smiling face with long reddish-blondish hair next to a laughing face with short blonde hair singing lustily one night in a dark tavern.   
  
And then she saw a stern silver-eyed face cloaked by long silver hair cry out "Endymion" and turn to face her. The pain and anger in his face made Serenity cringe and she could feel the red waves of accusation dash over her.   
  
Serenity retreated instantly and broke the mind link. Had she been sensed by the man with eyes of silver flame or was she just being fanciful? She shivered and forced herself to relax her tense frame and focus on Mamoru, no *Endymion*   
  
As the Gingzhouso's silver light Endymion's body, bruises faded, tissue and bone knit, and skin smoothed. His weak shallow breathing changed into deeper, less painful breaths with each passing second.   
  
However, Serenity's breathing grew labored as she sensed the seeping of her own energy. The Gingzhouso was as any aspect of life- a medium of both good and bad. It had the power to heal and to hurt. To give and to take. For the privilege of tapping into its awesome power the crystal extracted a heavy price. If one went to far, the price could ultimately be death.  
  
As the color returned to Endymion's cheeks, Serenity's own face began to pale. As strength and health returned to his broken body, so was strength and energy seeping from his savior's own thin frame.   
  
With a weak sigh Serenity removed her hands from Endymion's chest and let them hang limply at her side. Her prince slept soundly, his head cushioned in her lap, his hand coming up to lie comfortingly on her thigh. The rising sun caught the vibrant blue-black highlights in his hair.  
  
Gingerly massaging her hands, Serenity stared down at the worn face of the man she had plucked from Death's Doorstep.  
  
But not just any man. Oh no, she just had to go and fall in love with the Crown Prince of Earth.  
  
'Now you've really done it Sere,' she whispered tiredly. How was she going to explain her actions to the Moon Council? She could just hear herself now- "By the way Prime Minister, I used the special power of the Gingzhouso to heal the Earth Prince. Oh, and I fell in love with him too."  
  
The Prime Minister would probably have a stroke. Serenity laughed softly, but her smile faded when she sat back and really thought about what she had just done. Endymion was one of the most controversial figures in the galaxy. His super liberal policies on unions and public services had made him many enemies in the galaxy. Sometime ally sometime enemy of the Moon Kingdom, Endymion was responsible for working with her, through their respective diplomats, to ratify the recent trade agreement between Earth and the Moon. An agreement that had sparked dissent on both sides before the ink had dried.  
  
  
'If they find out what I am done, they'll say I'm not fit to rule. Using the Moon's precious power on someone not even from the Moon. Without permission.' Serenity realized. An angry tear rolled down Serenity's cheek. It wasn't fair. There had been no other choice. If she hadn't used the crystal, Endymion would have *died*  
  
So which was worse, having your love's death on your conscience or illegally harnessing a power to save him? She knew what her Council would say. She knew what her mother would say. Was she being selfish? Or selfless?  
  
Looking down, Serenity absently touched two fingers to Endymion's cheek. She wished she could regret her decision to come to the hills, but she would be lying to herself.   
  
'I know everything about him,' she thought strangely, 'and yet I know nothing about him.' She knew about his best friends, his four Guardians. She knew his worries about rebellions in the South, his courage, his recklessness, his loneliness. She knew about his dreams. But she didn't know what made him laugh. Or why he embraced his role as Prince one day and rejected it the next. And she didn't know why he had paid any attention to an awkward girl like her.   
  
  
Goddess, had this awkward girl gotten herself into a whole lot of trouble. Serenity could have sat there holding Endymion until the end of eternity, but the practical side drilled into her since birth knew that he would awaken soon. And ask lots of difficult and dangerous questions. Tension was high between the people of their planets, despite the treaty, and she needed to return to the castle before people started thinking she had shirked her duty and run off. Or worse, before Endymion's friends came looking for him. And come they would, especially after her little debacle with tapping into their mind ties.   
  
  
The crystal had seeped a lot of her strength, but Serenity considered it a fair trade. The fog of forgetfulness would be lifting in a few minutes and Serenity wanted to be remembered as a figment of everyone's imagination. Including Endymion's.  
  
Goddess, could she do it? Could she bear remembering when he would not? Leaning over, she lay her thumb tenderly on his cheek and pressed her lips lightly to his. She would be a hazy outline, just some vague recollection of a village girl, no more, no less.   
  
But she had to have something to remember him by. Leaning over, she picked up his harp and ran her fingers over the worn and polished wood. It was his, and she would treasure it forever.   
  
"Goodbye Endymion . . . my love," Serenity whispered, her breath feathering over Endymion's eyelids and cheeks. She stood and forced her body to walk away, one painful step at a time. A feeling of uneasiness slithered over her skin as she left her sleeping prince.   
  
Turning around she saw Endymion still lying peacefully, but something wasn't right. In her gut, Serenity knew Endymion was not out of danger yet. Someone had wanted to kill him, and they would find out soon enough that their attack had failed. Torn between action and passiveness, Serenity hurried along toward the castle. She needed to talk to Mina and the girls, quickly.  
  
*******  
  
Endymion's eyelashes fluttered as he slowly opened his eyes. A smile curved his lips as he heard her tender proclamation, "Goodbye Endymion . . . my love," repeated over and over by the wind as though relishing the sound.  
  
As his mind slid into full awakening, the lingering thought disappeared to be replaced by confusion. Why was he lying on hardy stony ground? Struggling to sit up, he glanced around and noticed the charcoal blackness of bonfire embers and the lingering remains of trash. Last night returned to him in flickers and flashes.   
  
He remembered music and dancing. And singing. But when he looked around he couldn't find his harp anywhere. But he had brought it, hadn't he? He couldn't seem to remember anything too clearly. Just lots of shapes and colors. And getting hit by an arrow in the chest.  
  
"Goddess!" Endymion jolted and touched his chest anxiously. Where there should have been a gaping hole and an arrow, there was nothing but smooth skin and stickiness from dried blood. What in the Goddess's name had happened? The last thing he remembered was getting hit and the vague memory of someone crying, but . . .But there was no one on Earth, save himself, his mother, and his Guardians who possessed even a tenth of the power required for such a massive healing. And he was all alone.  
  
Something or someone . . . definitely someone had plucked him from Death's door and dropped him back into the land of the living. He could make out a soft voice whispering something, but he couldn't remember her face . . .  
  
"Agh!" Endymion gritted his teeth in frustration. Why couldn't he remember? It was damnably annoying. Not to mention suspicious.  
  
He *had* to find her . . . Her? If he told her how much he loved her, how he wanted to marry her, then maybe . . .   
'Where was this coming from?' Endymion shook his head in confusion and tried to make sense of the swirling emotions overwhelming his thoughts. He must have hit his head when he fell down. Attempting to stand, Endymion suddenly felt a tugging at his mind.  
  
Relief, confusion, and anger poured into his mind like water bursting through a crack in a dam. Following close on the heels of the emotions, four men came riding up a path. Dust swirled as the men urged their mounts toward the lone man on the hillside.  
  
"Endy!" Nephrite leaped from his mount and leaned over to grip Endymion's shoulders. The other three immediately encircled their Crown Prince, worry and relief evident on their faces.  
  
"We all sensed a disturbance in Earth's auras after you left, my Prince," Kunzite stated grimly, "And I felt when the arrow entered your chest."   
  
His Guardians looked at him curiously, for while his shirt was covered in blood his skin was as smooth as a newborn baby.   
  
"What happened?" Zoiciste asked angrily as Jadeite reached down and helped Endymion stand. He had to lean heavily on his Guardian's shoulder, but he gave his friends, who were closer than brothers, a cheeky grin.  
  
"Before or after the shooting?" Endymion asked wryly. "Before I can tell you everything, even the names of all the village lasses I danced with. After . . .I remember nothing."   
  
"Nothing? You don't know why no one stayed to help you? Or who eventually healed you?" Nephrite and Zoicite barraged Endymion with questions as to his whereabouts immediately before the assassination attempt. Jadeite smiled slyly and asked Endymion about all the beautiful village lasses. However, amidst the jokings and questions was a hint of fear and worry. Someone wanted Endymion dead very badly.   
  
Kunzite stood slightly separated from the group, his expression grim as he gazed down thoughtfully at the scattering of villages in the valley. As he had prepared his horse to ride up the steep hills, he had felt someone probing the mind-link between he and his Prince. Someone powerful. Someone not from Earth.  
  
With rebellions breaking out every few months in other regions of Earth, Kunzite had long grown wary of coincidences. A powerful off-worlder is with the Prince at the exact moment he is shot. Kunzite deduced that this same foreigner had probably healed Endymion. But for what purpose? Had he or she been hired by one of the rebel groups to kill the Endymion? But then why heal him? Was Endymion even the intended target?  
  
"Endymion," he broke in abruptly, his silver eyes flashing, "I need a step by step account of everything you did, everyone you talked to at the celebration last night." At the curious looks from the other Guardians, Kunzite ran his hand through his hair, the only evidence of agitation.  
  
Would he reveal his suspicions? It was too soon to know anything.   
"When you were shot Endy, I sensed a power with you. The same person who healed you, most likely." Kunzite never raised his voice, but it was terrifying in its softness.  
  
  
The others stared at him in amazement and Zoicite asked incredulously, "You think he or she was involved in the assassination attempt? Or the actual assassin?"  
  
"Perhaps," Kunizte replied stonily, "but there are too many what ifs. He or she must be found immediately and brought in for questioning."  
  
"She." Endymion said softly.   
  
"What?" Jadeite turned toward his Prince. "What did you say Endy?"  
  
"Not he, she," Endymion repeated, certainty threaded in his voice, "It was a woman. I can see her hair, silver as moonbeams . . .that's all I can remember."  
  
"That's something to go on anyway. Jadeite and Nephrite, I want you to go the three villages immediately surrounding the Royal Palace and start inquiries. Zoicite, discreetly make a list of all visiting royalty and diplomats, especially the women."  
  
At their brisk nods in the affirmative, Kunzite turned to Endymion motioned toward a white horse. "Endymion, use my horse to return to the Palace. I will walk down later after I have looked around a bit."  
  
With the sun burning his face and the wind pushing rudely at his back, Endymion glanced at his most trusted friends, masking his anger and confusion. Oh, he'd go back to the Palace, but not to rest. No, there was more to this shooting than met the eye. Goddess, but he hated the not remembering. Something important had happened last night, and Endymion had the gut feeling that this girl was at the center of everything. HE had to find her, and quickly.  
  
  
Meanwhile, in the nearby castle of a minor baron, a young silver-haired girl quaked from tension and highly-strung nerves. She quickly and quietly climbed a set of servants' steps to escape prying eyes.   
  
Entering her room unseen, she was halted in her tracks by the hauntingly cruel rustle of sound entering her guestroom window. Was it the wind, or . . . Serenity shivered as a feeling of icy coldness overtook her slim frame. Whatever it was, it was biting, ruthless, and angry. Goddess protect her from that anger, an anger that she subconsciously knew was directed at her.   
  
Serenity flipped silver strands over her shoulder and reached inside her shirt to grasp warmth and comfort from her crystal that carried the essence of the Moon in its very stillness. But her hands touched only skin.  
  
A cry of sorrow burst from the Moon Princess's room, and in the distance the Crown Prince of Earth noticed a twinkling near his boot and reached to the hard ground. Grasping the necklace with the large crystal, a hint of gloating replaced the initial puzzlement.   
  
"Gotcha," Endymion whispered, a promise burning in his sapphire eyes.  
  
The hunt was on.  
  
* * * * * 


	6. Chapter 6: Panic

Hi everyone! I am soooo sorry for not posting sooner (swerving to avoid angry mob of readers.) This summer was craziness and I didn't have as much time to devote to my lovely story as I would have liked. Now that I am back at college, my time is virtually non-existent, but I WILL finish this story if it kills me! Please review and let me know how you like/don't like, whatever!  
  
Disclaimer: As much as I would wish, the characters of Sailor Moon do not belong to me.  
  
  
Chapter 6  
  
I can see the lights in the distance  
Trembling in the dark cloak of night  
Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing  
A waltz on, on All Souls Night  
  
Serenity fitfully awoke to the heated shine of the noonday sun on her face. Her tossing and turning had left the sheets twisted around pale legs, and the purple kiss of sleeplessness tinged her eyes.   
  
For a few blissful seconds she forgot the tempestuous events of the previous night. But HE would not deign to be forgotten and Serenity groaned in despair as it all came rushing back in waves of emotional chaos.   
  
Burrowing her head pack into the goose-feather pillow, she tightly closed her eyes and futilely willed her mind to blank. Fate just laughed mercilessly.  
  
'What have I done?' Serenity asked herself miserably. After everything that had happened, she felt she deserved a few minutes of self-pity. In a few short hours she had successfully brought her planet to the brink of diplomatic chaos and managed to render them entirely defenseless.   
  
All because of . . .because of *him*.   
'Be fair, it wasn't all his fault,' some obscure part of her conscious tried to inject into her wallowing. Maybe not, but if it wasn't for him . . .  
  
'If it wasn't for him Serenity, you would never have known love. If it wasn't for him, you would never have known heartbreak.'   
  
She had thought she just wanted to escape the role thrust upon her almost a year ago, that she just wanted to experience the brief freedom of anonymity. But now, oh now she knew that HE had been drawing her all along. The wild and wicked Prince of Earth, rumored to leave trails of broken hearts and heads wherever he went.   
  
The wild and wicked Prince of Earth who had not been so very wild or wicked after all. Serenity tried to remember the elusive scent that had clung to his skin as he held her hand and spoke to her as if she were the only thing that mattered in his life. Goddess, that had been the most magical night of her entire life!   
  
A smile flitted over her face, and Serenity rolled over and gazed at the ceiling, her eyes mesmerized by the swirling design. It had been too good to be true, and now she had to pay for the price of her rebelliousness.   
  
So many marks against her, this recently proclaimed Queen of the Moon Kingdom. Fraternizing with the "enemy" (well, an ally some of the time), illegal use of the Gingzhouso, failure to properly secure the area of use, and finally, horror of horrors- misplacement of the fabled Gingzhouso, Imperium Crystal of the royal line of the Moon.  
  
She must have lost it in the grass. Could it have fallen off on one of the paths? Serenity jumped up and out of bed, determined to head out right away and look for it. If she didn't get it back and it fell into the wrong hands . . .Serenity shuddered as she washed her face. She didn't even want to think about it.  
  
Dressing was interrupted by an impatient knock on the door. Suddenly the door burst open and her guard poured in like water through a broken dam, a cacophony of "Good mornings" and "Where in the Goddess's name were you last night?"  
  
Serenity smiled cheerfully, well as cheerful as anyone can be in her situation. "Good morning minna. Did the banquet last night go well?"   
  
Rei glared at Serenity's suspiciously innocent tone and Makoto grinned as Minako burst into a fit of giggles. Ami clucked her tongue, but gave Serenity an inquiring glance of her own.  
  
"It was very nice, but you must know that everyone was asking for you. Even the Dowager Queen of Earth came with an envoy to welcome you to Earth." Rei answered sternly. Her princess should have been there. It had been very awkward explaining her absence, especially to the Queen.  
  
"That's nice," Serenity remarked absently. 'Thank the Goddess I didn't go,' she thought, 'I probably would have screamed of boredom after only a few minutes.'  
  
"So tell us Sere," Minako prompted impatiently, her body reclining on the unkempt bed as her eyes twinkled impishly, "How was it?"  
  
"How was what?" Makoto immediately demanded. She had thought Serenity had just wanted to be alone in her room last night.  
  
"All Souls Night silly. In the hills. With the *villagers*" Minako answered dramatically, rolling her eyes and gasping in fake horror.  
  
"You went to the hills *alone*? Unprotected amongst people who could have killed you just for yawning?!!!" Rei quipped angrily, hiding her worry. Serenity could have been murdered and they weren't even there!  
  
"Don't exaggerate Rei, they were nice people," Serenity shot back, her voice rife with irritation. It was no secret that things were tense between Earth and the Moon Kingdom, but the people of Earth weren't murdering monsters.  
  
"We're just worried Sere. If someone had discovered your identity last night and decided you were worth more dead than alive. . ." Makoto shivered with distate. It was too horrific to imagine.  
  
Serenity gazed at her senshi with fond exasperation. Sometimes they treated her like she was made of fragile glass, despite the fact that she could fight and wield magic almost as well as they could.   
  
"Well as you can see I am not lying dead in some ditch. I am here in one piece and I had a wonderful time, so can you guys just relax?"  
  
Ami was the first to notice that the tense lines normally furrowed in Serenity's forehead were smoothed away. Purple shadows of fatigue had disappeared from under her eyes and her expression was relaxed. And was their princess *glowing*?  
  
"Sere, you like, um . . . different. What exactly did you *do* last night?" Minako asked playfully.   
  
Serenity couldn't hide the blush that tinged her normally pale cheeks, but when she reached up to touch her necklace in an unconscious gesture of embarrassment, her hands touched air.   
  
Giving a stifled cry, Serenity suddenly remembered the horror of discovering her necklace missing. And with it the Gingzhouso.  
  
"What's wrong Princess?" Makoto had never seen Serenity display such intense mood swings. A moment before smiling happily, Serenity now looked like she was ready to cry.   
  
Burying her face in her hands, Serenity mumbled, "I lost my crystal." Not a crystal, *her* crystal. She couldn't bare to see the looks on their faces when they realized her incompetence and stupidity.  
  
After a moment of complete silence, Serenity peeked through her fingers and saw the dazed, shocked, and confused expressions on her senshi's faces. Admirably recovering her composure, Minako simply asked "How?" How indeed.   
  
Drawing in a shaky breath, Serenity slid of the bed and walked to the open windows, her body turned from the group. In a quiet, flat voice she recounted the events of All Souls Night, omitting any mention of Endymion and his near death experience or her role in his continued existence.  
  
"And when I returned here, the crystal was no longer around my neck. I can only assume that the clasp must have broken and that it fell off without my noticing." Serenity concluded. She could imagine them wondering why she had been so easily distracted.   
  
Her senshi were her best friends, her almost sisters. But she could not tell them about Endymion. The wound in her heart was still too new, too raw. It was taking every ounce of willpower to keep from collapsing onto the floor and bursting into tears. Just a year ago she would have done just that- sobbed and asked her senshi for help. But that was before . . .before everything. A queen's illness and a nation's instability had altered her life forever.   
  
Forcibly shoving thoughts of Endymion aside, Serenity turned and began pacing the room, her face set determinedly.  
  
"I don't have much more time here, so we have to move quickly. Ami, you and Mako head to that center group of hills and comb the area where the festival was last night. With any luck it's lying on the grass somewhere. Oh, and especially check the east bank of the river."   
  
Her voice full of purpose and optimism, Serenity continued delegating, saying "Rei, I need you to check all the servants stairwells and the kitchens. I don't remember which one I came up in, but the necklace may be in this castle. Also question all the servants you can find." Rei bowed slightly, startled at the decisive maturity and control her Princess was exhibiting.  
  
"Minako, you and I are going to head into the village and inquire discreetly as to how to sell or purchase jewelry. With any luck someone found it and sold it already to some merchant."   
  
Turning to finally face her senshi, Serenity burst out laughing at the confused but respectful looks on their faces. Apparently they were surprised at the lack of hysterics.  
  
Laughing themselves at the amazing changes in their Princess, Ami and Makoto left to begin their search for the missing Gingzhouso. Rei and Minako left soon after, leaving Serenity alone to get dressed.   
  
Ringing for a maid, Serenity gave a deep sigh of relief. The crystal would be found and she wouldn't have to explain why she needed to prolong her vacation to a rival country rife with inner turmoil. Or why she could not protect her kingdom because she had lost their only means of defense. Or why Earth's Prince was so incredibly attractive . . .  
  
'Whoa there girl,' Serenity reprimanded herself. This ridiculous moon-sick behavior had to stop. She would get over Endymion. Yes, she would. No really, she would.  
  
'Who am I kidding?' Serenity thought miserably as she entered the warm bath her maid had prepared.  
  
*****  
  
  
Meanwhile, a crabby Prince of Earth paced the halls outside of his mother's suite, impatiently waiting for her to finish her morning toilette.  
  
When a handmaid opened the door to retrieve more towels, Endymion took the opportunity to slip inside the main room.  
  
"Mother?" Endymion called as he walked toward her private chamber. At the sound of his voice, a great scurrying could be heard as a flow of women left the Queen's private chamber, giving their Prince time alone with his mother.  
  
The Dowager Queen of Earth reclined on her divan and awaited her first-born son, a mixture of joy and annoyance on her face.  
  
Before Endymion could utter a word, the Queen burst out, "Where were you last night?" At Endymion's look of surprise, his mother sat up and shook her head dramatically.   
  
"You know I usually put up with your odd disappearances and carousing in the countryside, but you *knew* how important the All Souls Night banquet was to me, especially with our guests from the Moon and-"  
  
"WHAT?!" Endymion turned abruptly and strode over to the Queen. "Did you just say guests from the *Moon*? As in the Moon Kingdom?" The disbelief and incredulity in his voice was palpable.  
  
"Well, yes," The Queen continued blithely, "The Princess of the Moon and a few members of her court are here for a few days. I spoke to one of her guard, a charming young woman who commented on the Princess's desire to relax a bit. Can you imagine her choosing our Earth for her vacation?"   
  
Endymion most certainly could not imagine anything of the sort. Earth and the Moon Kingdom may have co-signed an important trade agreement, but the truth was there was no love lost between the two kingdoms. They had only been uneasy allies for ten years or so, and it was mostly in terms of creating cross-kingdom trade and commerce. Ideologically, their differences were vast, and there were people on both sides who would prefer to see communication permanently severed between the two kingdoms. Old wounds were slow to heal, and no one could seem to forget the old Lunar-Terran Wars.  
  
"Where is the Moon retinue staying?" Endymion asked suddenly. He needed Kunzite to investigate the Moon Princess's presence on his planet immediately.  
  
The Queen cocked her head for a moment and then clapped her hands in delight, saying "I do believe they are staying at the Moon Ambassador's castle. Yes, yes that was what that charming girl told me and-"  
  
The Queen continued talking, unaware that her son was no longer listening. Endymion wandered over the balcony overlooking the rose garden, his brow furrowed in thought. Why would the Moon Princess choose Earth of all places in the galaxy? Especially when relations between Earth and the Moon were so strained?   
  
Years of foiling political intrigue forced Endymion to look for an ulterior, more sinister motive. He needed a way to verify that the Princess was indeed simply "vacationing" on his planet for a few days.  
  
". . . and so I think you should do your duty for a change and host a ball in her honor." The Queen looked at her son expectantly and smirked at the baffled expression on his face. "Endymion? Endymion!"  
  
"What was that Mother?" Endymion asked, turning back to face her and masking his annoyance at having his thoughts interrupted.  
  
"I said, I think you should do your duty and throw a ball in the Princess's honor. I don't believe a prince or princess of the Moon has stepped foot on this planet for 400 years!"  
  
At Endymion's unenthusiastic look, the Queen turned obstinate. Standing to her full height, all 5' 1'' of her quivered as she wagged a finger at her delinquent son.   
  
"Endymion," she said through clenched teeth, her face red with irritation, "if you do not at least recognize the Princess's presence properly, I will throw you over my knee and spank you!"  
  
With that, she huffed back onto her divan and raised her nose in the air. Endymion had to stifle a laugh at the site of his mother red-faced with indignation, but he had to concede that she had a point. If he didn't at least do something, the Moon Princess might feel affronted and then relations would just get even worse.  
  
"You're right of course Mother," Endymion said tiredly, "I leave you in charge of all preparations."   
  
Leaving his mother squealing in delight and yelling for her handmaids, Endymion set the ball firmly in the back of his mind and let his mind wander *again* to the crystal necklace he wore hidden under his armor.   
  
He had hoped wearing the trinket would spark some memory or just make his feel closer to *her*, but so far all he felt was the chill of the chain along the back of his neck. And a longing so intense it made his soul ache.  
  
  
****  
  
  
"You are not fooling anyone Serenity!" A teasing Minako shouted a few hours later. Struggling to be heard amidst the hustle and bustle of the open market, Minako poked Serenity in the ribs and winked broadly.   
  
Serenity stifled a giggle at Minako's strange antics and pretended to not understand what she was talking about.  
  
As they passed a young woman selling woven baskets, Minako tried again, raising her voice even more. "Do you honestly think I wouldn't notice, what with that sparkle in your eyes and that secretive smile that says you've been kissed senseless!"  
  
"Minako!" Serenity gasped in mock outrage and then quickly smiled reassuringly at the two gentlemen following behind them. She had tried to explain to Mina's cousin, the Ambassador to Earth, that she didn't need bodyguards, but he had insisted.   
  
"Could you kindly not shout to the world that I've been kissed!" Serenity hissed, annoyed at the blush scalding her own cheek.  
  
"I knew you met someone last night, I just knew it!" Minako clapped her hands in triumph and immediately pounced like a cat that had just had a mouse dangled in front of its very nose.  
  
"What did he look like? Did you dance? How many times did he kiss you? Did *you* kiss him? Tell me everything!"  
  
This was the very thing Serenity had been afraid of. Struggling silently to keep from screaming at the unfairness of it all, Serenity motioned vaguely at some vendors. "Minako, we really need to be looking for my crystal here. I'll tell you all about it later, okay?" Turning abruptly, Serenity made her way to a table with necklaces and bracelets.   
  
Leaving Minako to catch up, Serenity hurried forward but halted in frustration at the glare of gold, gold, and more gold. No sign of crystal or silver anywhere.   
  
The merchant, sensing the golden-haired noblewoman's disappointment in his wares, murmured placatingly, "What is it you require, my lady? Perhaps I can be of some service."   
  
Serenity looked up and made her expression especially limpid and helpless, replying breathlessly, "I simply *adore* crystals and I was hoping to purchase one on a silver chain." As Minako walked up, Serenity shook her head to indicate silence, and turned back to the merchant.   
  
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, gazing at the two blonde beauties before him. With any luck, his friend could make a fortune today on the two lovelies and give him a share of the profits over a tankard of ale.  
  
"Well my lady, I think I may know where you could purchase such a trinket as would add even more brilliance to my lady's beauty," he began slowly, a flirtatious gleam in his eye. Minako smiled back prettily, but Serenity just stared back, her eyes large and mesmerizing.  
  
"Yes, well," the merchant continued, slightly unsettled by the smaller one's eyes, "he specializes in crystals of all shapes, sizes, and colors. He can be found down the road, in the last village before the Palace."   
  
"Thank you," Serenity smiled briefly and turned away, her brow furrowed in thought. The odds of Endymion seeing her in the village market were next to none, but Fate seemed to find the predicament amusing and might just send them running into each other again. And Serenity knew with a bone-deep certainty that Endymion would never let her run away again.  
  
As they walked along the paths, Serenity became painfully aware of the looks they were receiving from other people. They did stand out rather dramatically- two young blonde women, obviously wealthy nobles from their dress and their escorts, but just as obviously not from Earth.  
  
When they reached the village, the loud whispers did not abate. If anything, it just got worse. Merchants openly gawked at Serenity's silver-blonde hair and Mina's thin wispy dress, fashionable on the Moon but unheard of to the common people of Earth.   
  
And then they were besieged, as merchants vied to get their wares noticed by the rich foreign beauties. Serenity flushed at their obvious obsequious behavior, but refused politely the chances to examine a shawl of indigo silk or a two hundred year old pearl vase.   
  
Casting Mina a helpless look, Serenity's gaze caught on a man wearing a large, oddly shaped hat. And more importantly, the sunlight cast a bright shine from the hints of silver on the table in front of him.   
  
Catching Minako's eyes and motioning subtly toward the man, Serenity abruptly stopped walking and let the crowd surge past her. She could hear Minako exclaiming over a "simply divine" pearl-encrusted fan. Waiting for the escorts' attention to focus on the blonde princess of Venus, Serenity ducked into the crowd and pushed her way out of the swell. She only had a few minutes before her bodyguards would notice her absence and she had to get to that vendor unnoticed.  
  
Approaching the table casually, Serenity affected an air of disinterested, disdainful boredom. She didn't want to stand out from any other spoiled rich girl who probably patronized his booth.   
  
Her eyes quickly scanned the items draped attractively across the tables. Necklaces of the finest silver, chokers, loops, and bracelets glowed in the sunlight. Rubies and emeralds, opals and sapphires sparkled flirtatiously in the sun's caress. Crystals sparkled on necklaces and pendants. The wealth laid bare before her was dazzling to the eyes and to the senses, but . . .  
  
But *it* was not there. Crystals of all shapes and sizes enticed the onlooker, but the one that held the fate of Serenity and the entire Moon Kingdom was not there!  
  
Clamping down on her rising panic, Serenity schooled her features, but not before the man caught a hint of her desperation.  
  
"May I be of some assistance, my lady?" He inquired quietly, his tone neither toadying nor mocking. Serenity wondered at his thoughts, as his clear brown eyes revealed absolutely nothing.  
  
Pasting a false smile to her face, Serenity laughed forcefully, saying, "Oh, well, you see I just love crystals and I was looking for a large one to wear for . . .for tomorrow's ball." Serenity winced internally at the obvious lie, but continued to smile bravely and even batted her eyelashes. He probably thought she was an empty-headed moron.  
  
Motioning towards the bejeweled piles, the merchant asked curiously, "And nothing here tickles your fancy, my lady? How about this lovely pendant here, or perhaps that necklace?"  
  
Now came the tricky part. Serenity affected an air of confusion and shook her head slowly. "No, I am definitely looking for a necklace, but the shape of the crystal is all wrong." Blushing under his steady gaze, she hurriedly added, "Not that your crystals are ugly. On the contrary, this is some of the most beautiful jewelry I have ever seen. But you see, I am looking for a special crystal and it's not. . . you just don't . . . umm, well I will know it when I see it." Serenity finished lamely, convinced she had just lowered the estimation of the entire female population in this man's eyes.  
  
Looking at her keenly, the merchant pondered the absurdity a moment before deciding to humor her.  
  
"Well, my lady, I will be receiving a few new pieces tomorrow, if you would like to return tomorrow."  
  
"Will they be crystal necklaces?" Serenity asked hopefully, trying to hide her desperation. She only had a few more days.  
  
"I can't promise your ladyship as to the exact amount of crystal necklaces, but there ought to be a few." He responded, confidant she would return.  
  
Suddenly a hand grabbed at Serenity's arm and she gasped before turning to see one of her exasperated guards.  
  
"Why did you disappear like that, Your Highness? You must not leave without one of us again, for Your Highness's safety of course." The guards whispered furtively and glanced around cautiously.  
  
Serenity flushed at the rebuke, but smiled sunnily at the merchant and thanked him for his help. The merchant was so enchanted with her smile that he missed the reference to her elevated status of "Highness."  
  
Guiding her back to Minako, who by this time had managed not only to buy the pearl-encrusted fan but also a pair of orange dancing slippers and a red silk hair bow.  
  
"Everything all right Princess?" Minako asked, her eyes asking another question all together. When Serenity shook her head in the negative, Minako cast her a sympathetic glance and immediately started chatting about Earth's latest fashions.  
  
Serenity appreciated Mina's attempt to take her mind of the recent disappointment, but as they left the market she prayed that the others were having better luck than she was.  
  
Serenity failed to notice the excited whispers that accompanied two young men entering the market. Jadeite and Nephrite, two men made popular by their looks and position in court, cut a swathe through the crowds and caused many wistful looks on girls' faces. Anyone paying attention would have seen the two men stopping at each stall to examine the goods and make casual conversation with the different merchants and vendors.  
  
Serenity failed to notice Jadeite approach the merchant wearing the oddly shaped hat. And so she missed seeing the merchant wave his hands excitedly and mention a noblewoman's considerable interest in his crystal necklaces. A noblewoman with hair so blonde it appeared like silver.   
  
Nephrite cocked his eyebrow and looked at Jadeite. Turning, they thanked the merchant for his time and left the market quickly.  
  
****  
  
As the milky twilight softened the edges of time and space, a rider approached the courtyard of the Moon Ambassador's small castle bearing a message. Casually whipping his long blonde ponytail behind him, the messenger smiled charmingly at the blue-haired member of the Moon Princess's court and hand-delivered an elegantly rolled invitation.  
  
The invitation lay forgotten on the bed as the horrified eyes of the Moon Princess read over a message recently transmitted from her Moon Council. There had been a series of explosions on several prominent Terran trade ships returning to Earth, and some important political figures had been killed. The Council suspected a terrorist group made up of Moon rebels intent on sabotaging Lunar-Terran Relations. The Council mandated that the Ruler Pro Tempore of the Moon Kingdom take one of two courses of action.  
  
Her hands shaking with fear and confusion, Serenity read how she could either return to the Moon and prepare for a new cycle of Lunar-Terran wars or, *gulp*, forge an alliance with Earth. The Council suggested an alliance of the connubial kind in light of the severity of the crisis.   
  
Oh Goddess. She had to find that necklace. 


	7. Chapter 7: Painfully Tangling Heartstrin...

Here is Chapter 7 after a terribly long delay. I am SOOOOO sorry minna for taking so long (organic chemistry is the bane of my existence). I am making an effort to balance schoolwork and fun work (i.e. fanfic!) so don't give up on me yet. Thanks to all the beautiful people who reviewed- it really does mean a lot to me. Standard disclaimer applies (*of course*)   
  
Without further ado . . .  
  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Bonfires dot the rolling hillsides  
Figures dance around and around  
To drums that pulse out echoes of darkness  
And moving to the pagan sound  
  
The lingering remains of the setting sun cast one last futile glow to the countryside as night fought for dominance. Laughing voices could be heard as countless courtiers rambled the hallways and courtyard of the Royal Palace.   
  
Endymion gazed silently out the window in his personal suites as he waited for his Guardians, his body tense. He had hoped to find her quickly, but as the day wore on it soon became clear that she had disappeared as effectively as a phantasm.   
  
A beautiful, silver-haired phantasm who had . . .who had what?! Hurt him? Healed him? Loved him?  
  
Endymion sighed and shook his head in disgust. This woman had become an obsession that was making him weak. She consumed his every waking moment and he had started to neglect the affairs of his kingdom. But Goddess help him, he had to find her again.  
  
The experience had taken a toll on him physically as well. He was so consumed in finding her that he hadn't eaten anything all day. His eyes were bloodshot and the stress was making him haggard.  
His back was still turned when Kunzite and Zoicite returned, entering the room silently. Endymion sensed their dejection and carefully clenched and unclenched a fist before turning to face them.  
  
Kunzite's expression was impassive, but a touch of sympathy glimmered in his eyes. Zoicite averted his eyes to keep from looking at the expressions of anger and despair that warred on Endymion's face.   
  
As they stood in the tense silence, Nephrite and Jadeite burst into the room amidst loudness and laughter.   
  
"Endymion we have . . ." Nephrite trailed off as he saw the expression on Endymion's face. "What's wrong?" He asked in a concerned tone.  
  
"What do you *think*?" Zoicite responded peevishly. Sometimes Nephrite was really dense.  
  
"But we have good news!" Jadeite exclaimed. At the skepticism on Zoicite's face, he hurriedly continued with "A merchant in the village directly outside of the palace walls told us of a silver-haired woman inquiring about a crystal necklace."  
  
"And she was there earlier today, which means she is staying in the area." Nephrite added triumphantly. But when he glanced at his Prince, the Guardian did not see any change in expression on his liege's face.   
  
Jadeite also looked at Endymion curiously. He didn't seem overjoyed about the verification of the existence of the mysterious silver-haired lady. But Endymion had always had better control over his emotions than they did; he had learned early how to block himself off from others and had perfected the skill to surpass even Kunzite.  
  
"What would you have us do Endymion?" Kunzite asked into the silence.   
  
Two or three heartbeats passed before Endymion shifted his stance and looked them in the eye. The Guardians were struck by the desperation that blazed in eyes. Kunzite had never seen Endymion so involved in another person before and he wondered if perhaps it was unhealthy. Endymion looked as if he would perish if he could not possess this woman. When he found her, she would extol a power over him that none could combat and that made Kunzite nervous and apprehensive.  
  
"I want one of you to sell the necklace to the merchant tomorrow morning and remain there to observe any women that approach the stall. Everyone report to me before the masque tomorrow. Now leave me." Endymion spoke flatly and dismissively, but he couldn't keep all the emotion out of his voice.  
  
The Guardians glanced at each other and shrugged their shoulders. They had been through too much with their Prince to not recognize one of his moods. He needed to be alone.  
  
No lanterns had been lit in the room and Endymion stood impassively in the darkness until the echoing of his Guardian's footsteps could no longer be heard. He then picked up a crystal goblet sitting on the table and through it at the wall with all the force of his pent-up emotions. The shattered pieced flew all over and Endymion stared at them, fixated by the reflection of the moonlight on the shards.  
  
"I will find you," he whispered forcefully, "or I will die trying."  
  
******  
  
The rising sun the next day shone brightly on a woman as she scurried furtively along the main road. She was dressed in the clothes of a noblewoman, but scarves of flowing gossamer covered her burning red hair and wrapped around her neck and mouth to reveal only her slanting green eyes.   
  
Silently she veered off the main road and entered a forest, plunging deep into the verdant darkness. Following an unmarked path, she suddenly stopped and waited as three other figures, similarly cloaked, melted out of the shadows.  
  
"Is everything in order?" the woman asked the men. When her eyes caught the eyes of one he gulped nervously and looked away. Muttering in the affirmative, the men described the details of plan that was already in motion.  
  
The woman smiled maliciously and clapped her hands in delight. Giving some final instructions, she watched as the men hurried away, casting somewhat fearful glances over their shoulders.  
  
'They are smart to fear me,' she thought as she walked out of the forest, careful not to disturb a single leaf or twig with her inhumanely light step.  
  
"The moonchild will die," she whispered to herself, "and Earth will rule the universe . . ."   
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Serenity sent Rei and Minako in search of the jewelry merchant of the big floppy hat as soon as the household had been roused. The stricken expression on her face was enough to relay the gravity of the situation, and the two senshi set out grimly.   
  
As Minako retraced the steps she and Serenity had taken the day before, Ami and Makoto stayed with their Princess and tried to draw her out of her unusually gloomy mood.  
  
"I've heard the Prince is very handsome," Makoto offered after the silence became unbearable.   
  
Serenity shrugged her shoulders wearily and started pacing around the room. She missed the stricken glance Makoto sent Ami and the helpless headshake that was Ami's silent response. Their princess had become withdrawn and quiet in the past few months, but this was beyond anything they had ever seen before.   
  
Serenity looked incredibly fragile; her skin was so pale it was translucent and her eyes were too bright. Her hands would occasionally start shaking and she took to clasping them together in front of her heart.   
  
Makoto and Ami kept attempting conversation, but all Serenity could think about was *him* and how much this was going to hurt *him*  
  
For she couldn't marry him under such false pretenses. She couldn't destroy herself that way, not for her mother and not for her kingdom. And yet, did she have a choice? There *had* to be another way to diffuse any built-up hostility, there just had to be.  
  
'Am I to be an unwilling sacrifice on the altar of peace?' Serenity murmured to herself and she stopped her pacing and stared sightlessly out the window.  
  
"Please Sere, won't you tell us what's wrong?" Ami finally cried desperately. Serenity turned and looked at her blue-haired friend and the worry in her aqua blue eyes.  
  
Her face softening at the distress in her best friends' faces, Serenity hugged first Ami and then Makoto. Her friends were wonderful to worry, but there was nothing they could do.  
  
"Nothing the Crown Princess and Temporary Head of the Moon Kingdom can't handle." Serenity answered wryly, her eyes flashing with pain for a second.   
  
"I think I am going to nap before we have to get ready for the masque tonight. Can you wake me up when Mina and Rei return?" she asked them, injecting just the right amount of optimism and warmth into her voice.   
  
Makoto and Ami nodded and smiled, relieved at Serenity's more positive mood change but not entirely reassured. They left their princess sitting eerily still in a chair by the window, the sun's rays highlighting the silver strands in her blonde hair.   
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *   
  
"Serenity are you almost ready? We are going to be late to the- oh!" Minako paused abruptly in her tirade as she strode into Serenity's dressing room.   
  
A sight of shimmering incandescence turned her head slightly and smiled. Only if one looked very closely could they see the fine, fine silver chain hanging around her pale neck and disappearing into her gown.  
  
"Do you like it?" Serenity asked archly, trying to suppress her laughter at the astounded look on Minako's face.   
  
"Why Sere, you look, I mean that color . . .and that *neckline* and, well you look absolutely wonderful!" Minako rushed.   
  
"Thanks Mina," Serenity smiled and glided over to pick up her mask from the bureau. "You look very nice too."  
  
The Princess from Venus blushed slightly and gave a little twirl, letting the orange silk waft delicately over her body. "I thought it would be nice to shake these stuffy Terrans up a bit," she said, grinning slyly, "and a masque ball, well it's positively wicked! You could be dancing with a prince or a butler and never know it."  
  
'I hope at least one Terran never knows it,' Serenity thought glumly as she and Minako went to join the others in the courtyard.  
  
The carriages made haste to the Royal Palace, and as they entered the main courtyard, Serenity marveled at the lavishness arranged in her honor. The palace was awash in lights and color, and music and laughter invaded every open space.  
  
The entrance of the Princess and temporary Imperial Ruler of the Moon Kingdom brought the immense ballroom to a silent standstill. The crowd parted to allow the Princess and her retinue to approach the dais and greet the Queen and Crown Prince.  
  
Serenity's face flushed and then paled as she heard the whispers, and tittering of the guests. Luckily, the crescent moon mask covered most of her face and neck, but nothing could hide the slight trembling of the hand holding the mask as she neared the dais.   
  
She refused to look at the tall, imposing figure of the Crown Prince, his own sun mask lying dejectedly on the floor. Instead, Serenity locked eyes with the Queen and paused before her, sweeping low in a devastating curtsy.  
  
"Your Highness," the Queen said warmly, standing and motioning for Serenity to rise, "Thank you so much for gracing us with your visit. On behalf of my people I welcome you to Earth."  
  
Serenity felt comforted at the genuine friendliness in the Queen's voice and smiled brightly in return.  
  
"I thank your Majesty for the honor of this ball. I have been delighted with my visit thus far and hope there will be many more in the future." Serenity's voice rang like crystal bells over the crowd and men sighed at its beauty. All men except one.  
  
With a signal from the Queen, the orchestra commenced playing music once again, and the focus of the guests left the interplay on the dais for the time being.  
  
"May I present my son, the Crown Prince Endymion." Serenity barely heard the Queen's voice over the suddenly increased pounding of her heart.  
  
'Don't look at him, don't look at him!' The panic in her mind warned her, and Serenity pasted a slight smile on her face and curtsied vaguely in response to Endymion's slight bow, focusing her eyes on the ornate chair behind him. 'Now turn and leave Serenity.'  
  
At that moment, Endymion reached for her hand to raise it to his lips for a perfunctory kiss. Caught off-guard, Serenity jerked back her hand and took a step back, right onto the hem of her gown. The crescent moon mask fell to the floor, forgotten.  
  
As she felt herself lose balance, Serenity closed her eyes and prayed no one in the crowd would notice her embarrassing clumsiness. She then felt a warm rough hand grab her waist and steady her back onto her feet.  
  
Oh dear goddess, what was she doing? She was supposed to be putting distance between them, not hurling herself into his arms! But it felt so wonderful to finally be back in his arms . . . as if she truly belonged there.   
  
Serenity allowed herself a few more seconds of being held, for memory's sake, before she opened her eyes.  
  
"Thank you, your Highness," she said breathlessly, keeping her eyes averted.   
  
Endymion smiled absently and murmured something noncommittal, his mind elsewhere. Until the princess in his arms started to draw away and turned her head at such an angle as to catch the lantern light on her neck.   
  
Endymion grabbed the Princess's hand and jerked her behind one of the tall chairs on the dais.   
  
Questioningly, Serenity looked into Endymion's eyes and hissed, "What are you doing? Let go of me before people start looking over here!" Goddess, why did he have to look at her like that? Serenity let herself get angry, anything to block the pain in her heart.  
  
Endymion gazed down at the silvery-blonde head and the irate blue eyes. His face expressionless, he let his fingers trail over Serenity's neck, and at her gasp he lifted the fine chain until the crystal was visible.  
  
Serenity stiffened in shock and fear as the passionate fires of every emotion known to man stared at her from earth blue eyes.  
  
Painfully gripping her fragile hand, Endymion uttered softly, wonderingly, menacingly-  
  
"It's you." 


	8. Chapter 8: No More Running

Hello everyone! Lots and LOTS of hugs and thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially Gelasia, Sailor Earth, Aylee the Dragon, Tine E. Telford, Electric Pegasus, Saki, lindy*girl, Kismet*, Catasa, Chibi Tsuki, Crystalline Lily, TKDgrl, hatami, and everyone else wherever you are! Thanks for sticking with my story through my bouts of months long writer's blocks; I really appreciate your support. Standard disclaimer applies and now (drumroll pleeze!) onto Chapter 8 . . . . . . . . . . .   
Chapter 8  
Serenity stared at the Prince in stunned silence, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts and violent emotional colors. The background music and noise had faded into nothingness and the moment was suspended in their own private heaven, their own private hell.  
  
"Did you think I wouldn't recognize you? Did you think you could just waltz in here and pretend not to know me? Not to remember?" Endymion asked, his voice harsh and low with fury.   
  
Serenity stiffened and tried to pull away from Endymion's crushing grip, but it was as if trying to escape from a pile of unrelenting rocks.  
  
"Your Highness, I don't know-" her soft voice began.  
  
"Don't!" Endymion bit out abruptly. His body was rife with tension and Serenity knew that if the Crown Prince of Earth wanted to he could easily snap her in half. The hands gripping her body were trembling slightly, betraying the inner conflict racking Endymion's body.  
  
"Don't pretend that you don't know what I am talking about," he continued, "don't pretend that you don't remember that night."   
  
Serenity flinched slightly at the pain in Endymion's voice. The memories she had unsuccessfully tried to block from two nights before flooded into her mind. It had been beautiful . . .perfect. And as much as she had been trying to fool herself into forgetting about the man that made her life worthwhile, there was always that possibility that it could work. But now. . . 'Play the game until its end Serenity.'  
  
"Endymion, Your Highness, please." Serenity trembled at the darkening of Endymion's already murderous expression, and she subconsciously reached up and patted the crystal nestled between her breasts for comfort. The crystal throbbed hotly against her heart for a few seconds before cooling down to stillness once more. A sense of determination filled her and the Crown Princess and temporary Ruler of the Moon Kingdom braced herself to look Earth's Prince in the eyes. "I am not who you think me to be and I must ask that you release me at once." Her voice intentionally cooled, Serenity jerked herself out of Endymion's grip and turned.   
  
Not a sound came from behind her and she slowly started to edge from behind the large throne. Reality began closing in and the loud waltzes from the Imperial Orchestra once again pervaded Serenity's senses. But still no word from Endymion.  
  
'I cannot keep this up much longer' she thought bleakly as she gently took a step off the dias. One word from Endymion and it might very well be over. And he would hate her for what he would think her people had done when he found out.   
  
Her other foot was just about to join the first when Serenity was spun around and hoisted into Endymion's arms.  
  
"You are she," he whispered desperately, "I know it. I can feel it. I can feel *you.*"  
  
Serenity paled and blushed at the same time. Gone was the privacy found behind the throne, and people were starting to stare at the odd sight of the prince and princess on the dias.   
  
"Put me down Endymion!" Serenity whispered forcefully. Goddess, she could just scream!  
  
"Not until you admit that you are the woman who I met at All Souls Night. The woman who saved my life. The woman I-" he stopped abruptly, a confused expression appearing on his face.   
  
"The woman you what?" Serenity asked, her voice a hush within the cacophony of sound.  
Endymion just stood there staring at her, and after a second that felt like Eternity, Serenity eased herself down and pushed herself out of his arms for the second time that night. Not sparing him a glance, she turned and walked into the crowds, disappearing instantaneously in the crush.   
  
Endymion continued to stand there, immobilized by shock and relief. He couldn't believe he had almost said . . . but how? He had only known her for one night! And then there was the tiny fact that she was the bloody Princess of the Moon Kingdom!   
  
He had no doubt that Princess Serenity and the mysterious silver-haired woman were one and the same. They would have been on Earth around the same time and they both had silver hair, which was not a natural color for a Terran. And they both could harness incredible power. The necklace Serenity had been wearing matched the one he had found on the hill. Or had it?   
  
Endymion pondered as he walked idly amongst his guests, stopping to greet people around the room. The chain had looked the same, but he hadn't actually seen the crystal as it had been hidden in her dress. Endymion smiled lasciviously at the thought.  
Acutally, he wasn't even sure that the necklace he had found belonged to his mystery maiden. But no, something in his gut pulled at him when he had picked up the fragile chain. Not power, but . . . an essence, almost a recognition.  
  
He had no other choice. For some reason he had become obsessed with his silver-haired phantom and to have her be so close was driving him insane. Something inside him rebelled against the thought of treating this as merely a temporary insanity, but Endymion quenched the defiant thought.  
  
******  
  
Time slowly passed for the Crown Prince as he found himself craning for glimpses of shimmering silver beauty. His Guardians sent concerned glances his way and muttered among themselves. The Prince's restlessness was nothing new these past few months, but they had never seen him so...restrained. To their trained eyes, in a matter of hours Endymion had become a breathing simmering barely controlled storm that could unleash at any moment.  
  
Kunzite thought back the last time he had seen his Prince, his friend this agitated, not common for a man who had been forced by necessity to maintain ramrod self-control at all costs. As Endymion swirled by on the arm of a giggling girl, Kunzite saw flashes of unease and anger surrounding the Prince, and he remembered auras that had disturbed the Prince from before All Souls Night. His visions, his agitation, and now this, this barely controlled fury that cloaked Endymion like a velvet glove.  
  
And then the dance changed and as people switched partners Endymion saw a head of silver hair turn and dashed toward the Princess of the Moon. With a quelling look at her next partner, Endymion grasped her hands and pulled the shocked Princess into his arms and onto the dance floor.   
  
"What are you doing?" Serenity hissed as Endymion grasped her firmly around the waist with one hand and drew her closer to his body. Ah, he could practically taste the anger and relief mixing through her aura, almost paralleling the emotions swirling through him at the moment. Emotions that would hopefully release him from his imprisonment when he had the answers he was looking for.  
  
"What does it look like *Princess*, I am dancing with you of course," Endymion answered smoothly, a smug smile on his lips. He had her to himself for at least another five minutes and he wasn't going to waste this opportunity.   
  
"I warned you Endymion, leave me alone," Serenity tried to insert a note of authority in her voice even as her arms wanted to wrap themselves around his neck and never let go. Traitors.  
  
Goddess, but how could something that felt so right be so wrong? Against her conscience and against her country her mind battled- she new she couldn't allow herself to let Endymion know the entire truth, but in his arms she felt complete. All the restlessness and pain of the past few months since she has assumed her mother's role in the Moon Kingdom was quieted only when she was near this man, in this man's arms.   
  
Was it weakness? Serenity knew she had had to learn hard and quickly the ways of effective diplomacy, intrigue, and absolute sovereignty and perhaps part of her had been locked away in an effort to fill her mother's role. And perhaps that part of her yearned to be set free at the expense of everything she had worked for.   
  
And so they danced, staring in each other's eyes with an air of watchfulness and waiting. He thought the truth would set him free. She knew the truth would ruin everything.  
"Why won't you admit it?" Endymion asked suddenly, breaking the silence. He spoke casually, but his expression was guarded and his grip on her waist tightened ever so slightly.  
  
"Why do you want to know so badly?" Serenity countered, closing her eyes briefly to the look on his face.   
  
"Because I want to thank you for saving my life, because I want to continue our conversation that we held under the stars, because I want to sing to you, because I-" Endymion stopped suddenly, amazed at his angry outburst. It was as if a dam had opened inside him and all the emotions he had been suppressing for the past week poured through him.   
  
Serenity's eyes widened at the passion and fury in Endymion's voice. How could she have been so foolish? This whole time she had only been worried about her emotions and her pride and honor. She hadn't thought that night had affected Endymion as deeply as it had affected her, but looking at his face and the tortured gleam of his eyes, she knew. And when she tentatively sent out a mental screen and saw the flaring of his aura in recognition of her, she knew.  
  
Whatever happened afterward she would deal with it with every scrap of dignity she possessed, but Goddess she just couldn't hold it off any longer.  
  
"Endymion, I-"   
  
A loud crash erupted in the hall as one of the banquet tables was overturned and four figures completely covered in dark robes pulled out throwing knives and swords.  
  
One instant of stunned immobilization, and then the guards started charging the intruders. But that onesecond was all they needed and even as the men were pushing the women behind them a knife was flying through the air straight at the back of the Crown Princess.  
  
"Endymion!" Kunzite cried out in horror and watched as the Prince pushed Serenity out of the knife's path. But not before it scraped along her back, and as the two hit the ground with a painful *thump* a line of red appeared amidst the glitter of silver.   
  
Chaos, panic, call it what you will erupted at the sight of the Princess of the Moon limp on the floor. Minako screamed and she and the other Senshi ran toward their Princess, desperate and fearful glances flitting from face to face.  
  
The Queen ordered the guards to clear the area, and dazed guests were gently escorted from the main ballroom to various parlors and sitting rooms down the hallway. After casting one worried look over to her son, the Queen left to calm the guests down.  
  
Endymion knelt down next to Serenity and felt for her pulse. The knife had jus grazed her so she could be in shock. But at his slight shakes she didn't stir. And her pulse was slowing down.  
  
"Serenity!" Ami rushed forward and looked at her friend, tears streaming down her face. Taking a deep breath and choking back a sob, she used Endymion's hands to help her gently turn Serenity over to inspect her back. The grim-faced Guardians stood to one side while the shocked Senshi stood to the other, watching unblinkingly as Ami examined the cut along the width of Serenity's back.  
  
Ami closed her eyes and sent a mental touch along the wound, using her innate power senses to find what just her eyes could not. After a few seconds she leaned over and sniffed the area, grimaced, and looked up at the small huddle.   
  
"The knife tip was poisoned," she said flatly, her trembling lip belying her voice. Makoto gasped slightly and Endymion closed his eyes in pain.  
  
"What did she do to them? Nothing! They did this to her for nothing!" Rei stated hoarsely, her fist clenching in anger. And what she said next surprised everyone.  
"I *knew* we should never have come here. This land is cursed, it has been for centuries and it will continue to wreak havoc on everyone's lives."  
  
Jadeite stiffened at her words and opened his mouth to retort when Endymion held up his hand wearily and looked at Ami.   
  
"We don't have time to sit and argue. What can I do for her?" He asked impatiently. He cradled her body in his arms and shuddered slightly at the coolness of her skin. Her breathing was shallow and Endymion could barely see her chest expand for breath.  
  
"We have no medicines from the Moon here, those would be the most effective. I would try to heal her with magic, but I haven't the strength and it is difficult for us to combine our magicks so far away from the Moon..." shrugging her shoulders dejectedly, Ami looked up at Endymion's eerily still face.  
  
"But I have the strength, my lady," he said quietly, his hand brushing Serenity's hair out of her face, " and I have a debt to repay. A life for a life." He could not allow himself to think of a life, an existence without her. The fragile form in front of him had dared invade his mind and body and if she were to die then he was afraid a piece of him would die with her.  
  
And so the Senshi and the Guardians stepped back and watched the awesome power of the planet Earth work through the Crown Terran Prince. His eyes closed, his jaw clenched, he ran his hands over Serenity's back and poured the Earth's life force into her body.  
  
'Serenity,' he cried mentally, 'you can't leave me now, not here, not like this.' His aura merged with hers and with the connection came recognition. He could see the pain she felt for her mother's illness and the anxiety she faced for such a demanding position. He could see her wonder that night when she saw him at the festival, her inner struggles in confiding the truth to him.  
'Serenity I see it all. I understand now. Come back to me,' he urged even as he could feel her blood start pumping again. The pure golden energy of Earth eased around the poison and spread it thin, so thin that it lost its potency.   
  
She was breathing now, deep cleansing breaths that brought color back to her face.   
And in his mind he heard her voice, 'Endymion...Endymion!' and from somewhere deep inside him he was suddenly filled with joy and desire.   
  
'Serenity,' he sent the thought to her infused with emotion, 'Come back to me. Stay with me... Be with me?'   
  
Serenity slowly opened her eyes and lay her forehead against the marble floor. She tried to use her arms to prop herself up, but before she could lift herself off the ground, strong arms scooped her up and carried her over to the group huddled on the other side of the room.   
  
Endymion cradled Serenity and balanced her head against his shoulder. She turned her face up to his shyly, a hesitant expression crinkling her brow. As Endymion strode across the room he murmured huskily in her ear, "You never answered my question."  
******  
  
Meanwhile, a day's ride away a courier battled a torrential rainstorm as he rode across the mountains. In his soaked leather satchel contained a missive to the Crown Prince from his spies (*ahem* diplomatic agents) about a recent act of sabotage that would provide grounds for retaliatory attack against the Moon Kingdom. 


	9. Chapter 9: The Calm Before the Storm

Hi everyone!!! I want to apologize to all my fans for the ridiculously long gap between my postings- you all have stuck by me through writer's block and college craziness and I really really appreciate it! The title of this story is loosely based on the song 'All Souls Night' by Loreena McKennitt (very very good stuff, I promise). Thank you for all your glowing reviews :) they are really inspirational. So keep 'em coming!   
  
Standard disclaimer applies (duh!)  
  
All Souls Night  
  
Chapter 9  
  
'You never answered my question . . ..' Endymion's husky words echoed in Serenity's ears. She vaguely heard him tell his friends that he was taking her to the gardens and grabbed on for dear life as her heart strode across the immense ballroom and whisked her out the door.  
  
Stars twinkled merrily in the dark wash of night sky as if greeting the powerful royals. Endymion paused next to an ornately carved stone bench and gently sat, cradling the slight figure in his lap. Together they sat, silent, gazes locked in the nakedness of the night. A shimmering silver aura shyly reached out and touched a tumultuous blue and green cloud, and as the colors eased carefully around and through each other the Prince of Earth and the Princess of the Moon felt their faces moving closer and closer together.  
  
His grip tightened around her waist and his eyes sparkled with relief, happiness . . .expectancy. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her eyes glowed blue angel fire. Softly, reverently, noses bumped and a rose petal's softness separated mouths...breathing together, hearts beating together as one. Together. Whole.  
  
"Well?" Endymion's words broke the silence as they skimmed Serenity's mouth and the tingling in her spine drew a gasp from her lips. The second stretched tautly in silence.   
  
Her heart glowed in triumph as Serenity broke down her emotional walls ('Goddess help me') and laid her soul bare, whispering into Endymion's mouth, "Why ask a question to which you already know the answer?"   
  
And then she closed the hair's breath gap with her lips and crystals burst behind her eyelids as the Earth roared her approval. And then Endymion was gripping her and his lips were...well, Serenity couldn't think very much after that.  
  
Energy crackled in the air as the wind grew stronger and whipped leaves and flower petals in possessive arcs around the lovers. The ground rumbled in disquiet as raw power rose and engulfed the oblivious couple.  
  
'I am yours Endymion, forever.' Serenity vowed silently as silver power hit gold and two souls were made one. Together. Whole. *Complete*  
  
******  
  
The red-haired noblewoman gave one last cursory glance at the duke lying sprawled on the bed before turning to leave the ornate room, a satisfied smile on her face. The duke thought her a simpering idiot who would be flattered by his attentions, and she had played the part to her fullest advantage. Now she inside knowledge of some of the key players in the Lunar-Terran trade negotiations- knowledge she was planning to use immediately.   
  
Arriving in a sitting room undetected, Lady Beryl listened carefully as the nobles around her raved about the night's deadly turn. Snatches of "assassins entering the palace" and "attacks on the Moon Princess" danced around the room like ballerinas as the royal Terran court tried to deal with the implications.   
  
Lady Beryl simply sat and made noncommittal remarks and sympathetic noises as she waited impatiently for news on the Moon Princess's condition. The Dowager Queen had been circling amongst the guests, trying to keep everyone calm, but the events had taken their toll and many guests had retired to their rooms in shock.   
  
And then, Lord Kunzite, Head Guardian to the Prince entered from the hallway and stood in front of the Dowager Queen, announcing loudly, "His Royal Highness, Prince Endymion has successfully healed the Princess of the Moon!" Amid cheers of joy and pride for the Prince and relief that the Moon would not bring war on their heads for killing the Moon Princess, a pair of green eyes glittered murderously. Rage hidden perfectly behind her face a mask of composure, Lady Beryl bowed to the Queen and left the room, her mind working furiously.  
  
'How could this have happened!" She screamed silently. Twice the moon brat had escaped her snares, always hiding behind Endymion. Beryl glowered as she entered her room, her reflection in the mirror a mask of madness. The Earth had the right to rule the universe, but that could not happen as long as the Moon Kingdom held such immense power. Serenity had to die. Only then could Earth take its rightful place as supreme ruler...only then could Endymion be hers...  
  
Possessiveness coursed through her like a molten river. Endymion deserved someone worthy, a Terran who would help him when he became sovereign of all. And that Terran was she.   
  
"Goodbye Princess." Beryl whispered into the deathly silence. It was time for phase two.   
  
******  
  
"We really should go inside now," Serenity murmured languidly. Endymion's arms were so warm and his lips were so...hmmm, she could sit here kissing him for days. But the Sky was already turning throbbing with hues of pink and orange in anticipation of the Sun's arrival. And her Prince had duties to attend to. *sigh*  
  
Endymion groaned teasingly and watched as the love of his life burst into giggles. He felt himself smiling foolishly in return and marveled silently. In all of his life full of indulgence of his every whim he had never expected to be granted so precious a gift as this. Overwhelming feelings of completeness flooded his soul as he held Serenity in his arms, and all the tension he had been exhibiting over the past few months was washed away with a soothing tenderness.   
  
"Before I leave you," Endymion said to Serenity adoringly, "I must tell you that I wish for us to wed as soon as possible. I've waited so long for you, and I don't think I can wait very much longer."  
  
Serenity stared at Endymion with wide eyes, unable to hide her emotions from him. As much as she loved Endymion, Serenity thought an immediate wedding was moving things a little too quickly. She still had important duties waiting for her on the Moon, not to mention the diplomatic protocol that would have to be followed, and what if her mother was too sick to travel to Earth for the wedding, and what if the Moon Council decided they didn't want such a strong tie to Earth after all, and-  
  
"Serenity?" Endymion's voice brought the Moon Princess sharply back from her musings, and at the hesitant look on his face, all her practical concerns melted away in a puddle of irrelevance. Serenity knew that this man had not had the luxury of being hesitant on anything in his life, and the vulnerability he was exposing to *her* made her soul glow.   
  
"I cannot wait either," Serenity said breathlessly and laughed as Endymion swooped her up and swung her in his arms around and around, her gown fluttering madly around her legs. The pins holding her silver hair up had long since been removed by Endymion's clever fingers, and the waves of shimmering silk fell around her like a protective cloak.  
  
"I will start making preparations immediately!" Endymion's turbulent eyes glowed with happiness, and as he walked Serenity to a prepared room in the guest wing, his thoughts whirled with all the steps he would have to take to marry a Moon Princess.  
  
"Sleep well, my love." Serenity gently kissed Endymion again at her door and closed it behind her as he started to walk away. And then she remembered and the remembering hit her so hard she gasped out loud in alarm. She had to tell him about the accident on the Moon! How could it have slipped her mind? The Moon Council was counting on her to prevent war between the Earth and her planet.   
  
But for those few blissful hours she hadn't been thinking about her duties or responsibilities. She hadn't been planning an approach to informing the Terrans of the incident. And Goddess help her, she hadn't even been thinking of her mother.   
  
The pleasure had washed all else away until all that was left was Endymion and their perfect love. So there was the danger, and Serenity did not care for the insidious wisps of foreboding that curled around her heart like a silent snake. Doubt had no place in her heart. She would do her duty and she would have her love if it killed her.   
  
'But what if you had to choose?' The sibilant whisper invaded her consciousness and burrowed deep into her thoughts.  
  
And try as she might, Serenity could not get that thought out of her mind.  
  
******  
  
A proclamation was made to the royal court later that day announcing the betrothal between the Crown Prince Endymion and the Moon Princess Serenity. Amidst the cheers of celebration and beaming gaze of the Dowager Queen there were a few grumblings and one outright glare.   
  
"The Moon has no business trying to take over our planet," people whispered, and one green-eyed face smiled smugly at the few pockets of murmurs in the crowd. Not everyone was pleased with the turn of events, and while doubt and mistrust could be fostered at present, the time would soon be ripe for action. But for now... Lady Beryl secured the letter hidden under a ribbon in her sleeve and quietly left the great room. One of the Prince's trusted Guardians would soon be finding the compromising letter implicating the Princess of involvement with terrorist activities against Earth. And oh, how would the Moon Princess get herself out of that one?  
  
******  
  
As the Lady Beryl plotted gleefully inside the castle, a rather harried young man rode up to the main gates on a well-lathered horse. The wind had picked up, whipping the banners and flags hanging on the palace into a frenzy. The sky began to darken like ink dripping into pure water. As if the dark weather was but a harbinger for dark times to come.   
  
Pulling up before the guards, the man fell from the horse in exhaustion and stumbled toward the nearest sentinel. Beads to sweat poured down his face and dirt and dampness covered the man's thin frame, but the guard could make out the colors of the livery of a royal messenger.   
  
"An urgent message for his Highness," the man wheezed, handing the sentinel some papers from his satchel.   
  
The papers were snatched and taken to a palace messenger, and the young man leaned wearily against his loudly breathing horse before straightening to take it to the royal stables.   
  
"Is everything all right?" Called one of the guards, noting the worn and dirty messenger's grim expression. The sun cast a shadow over the man, but the guard managed to make out the bleakness leaking from his eyes as he turned around.  
  
"Nothing will ever be all right again." The man answered huskily. "Lord Motoki is dead." 


End file.
